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IRY FARMING; 

COMPRISING 

THE BREEDS, BREEDING, AND MANAGEMENT, IN HEALTH AND DISEASE, 

OF DAIRV AND OTHER STOCK j THE SELECTION OF MILCH COWS, 

WITH A FULL EXPLANATION OF GUENON'S METHOD ; 

THE CULTURE OF FORAGE PLANTS, 

AND THE PRODUCTION OF 

MILK, BUTTER, AND CHEESE: 



EMBODYING THE MOST RECENT IMPROVEMENTS, <AND ADAPTED TO 
FARMING IN THE UNITED STATES AND BRITISH PROVINCES. 

WITH A TREATISE UPON THE 

DAIRY HUSBANDRY OF HOLLAND; 

TO WHICH IS ADDED 

HORSFALL'S SYSTEM OP DAIRY MANAGEMENT. 



By CHARLES L. FLINT, 
w 

■SECRETARY OF THE MASSACHUSETTS STATE BOARD OP AGRICULTURE ; AUTHOR OF " A TREA- 
TISE ON GRASSES AND F0RAQ8 PLANTS," ETC. 



LIBERALLY ILLUSTRATED. 



NEW YORK': 

PUBLISHED BY A. 0. MOORE, 140 FULTON ST. 

BOSTON: A. WILLIAMS & CO. 

PHILADELPHIA J. 15. LIPPINCOTT & COMPANY. 

CINCINNATI RICKEY, MALLORY & CO. 

18 5 8. 




Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858, by 

CHARLES L. FLINT, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



miNTEl! BY 
E O It O E C . l: 4B» & A V E It V 



Sictcviv[*d 1)' 
" H H A R T * BOBBINS. 

NtfW FnjtUnd Type antl Stereotype Fouu.Vry. 



THE MASS. STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.. 

T II E 

MASS. SOCIETY FOR THE PROMOTION OF AGRICULTURE, 

AND THE VABIOUS 
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 

WHOSE EFFORTS HAVE CONTRIBUTED SO LARGELY TO IMPROVE THE 

DAIRY STOCK OF O TJ R COUNTRY 

DESIGNED TO A P V A N C K THAT HIGHLY IMPORT A N T INTEREST, 
IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, 

H V 

T HE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE. 



This work is designed to embody the most recent 
information on the subject of dairy farming. My aim 
has been to make a practically useful book. With this 
view, I have treated of the several breeds of stock, 
the diseases to which they are subject, the established 
principles of breeding, the feeding and management of 
milch cows, the raising of calves intended for the dairy, 
and the culture of grasses and plants to be used as fodder 

For the chapter on the diseases of stock, I am largely 
indebted to Dr. 0. M. Wood, Professor of the Theory 
and Practice of Veterinary Medicine, and to Dr. Geo. 
H. Dadd, Professor of Anatomy and Physiology, both 
of the Boston Veterinary Institute. If this chapter 
contributes anything to promote a more humane and 
judicious treatment of cattle when suffering from dis- 
ease, I shall feel amply repaid for the labor bestowed 
upon the whole work. 

The chapter on the Dutch dairy, which I have trans- 
lated from the German, will be found to be of great 
practical value, as suggesting much that is applicable 
to our American dairies. This chapter has never before, 
to my knowledge, appeared in English. 

The full and complete explanation of Guenon's method 
of judging and selecting milch cows, — a method origin- 
ally regarded as theoretical, but now generally admitted 
to be very useful in practice, — I have translated from 
the last edition of the treatise 'of M. Magne, a very 
sensible French writer, who has done good service to 
the agricultural public by the clearness and simplicity 
with which he has freed that system from its compli- 
cated details. 



VIII PREFACE. 

The work will be found to contain an account of the 
most enlightened practice in this country, in the state- 
ments of those actually engaged in dairy farming ; the 
details of the dairy husbandry of Holland, where this 
branch of industry is made a specialty to greater extent, 
and is consequently carried to a higher degree of per- 
fection, than in any other part of the world ; and the 
most recent and productive modes of management in 
English dairy farming, embracing a large amount of 
practical and scientific information, not hitherto pre- 
sented to the American public in an available form. 

Nothing need be said of the usefulness of a treatise 
on the dairy. The number of milch cows in the coun- 
try, forming so large a part of our material wealth, and 
serving as a basis for the future increase and improve- 
ment of every class of neat stock, on which the pros- 
perity of our agriculture mainly depends; the intrinsic 
value of milk as an article of internal commerce, and as 
a most healthy and nutritious food ; the vast quantity 
of it made into butter and cheese, and used in every 
family ; the endless details of the management, feeding, 
and treatment, of dairy stock, and the care and atten- 
tion requisite to obtain from this branch of farming the 
highest profit, all concur to make the want of such a 
treatise, adapted to our climate and circumstances, felt 
not only by practical farmers, but by a large class of 
consumers, who can appreciate every improvement 
which may be made in preparing the products of the 
dairy for their use. 

The writer has had some years of practical experi- 
ence in the care of a cheese and butter dairy, to which 
has been added a wide range of observation in some of 
the best dairy districts of the country ; and it is hoped 
that the work now submitted to the public will meet 
that degree of favor usually accorded to 'an earnest 
effort to do something to advance the cause of agricul- 
ture. 



DAIRY FARMING. 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTORY. — THE VARIOUS RACES OF PURE- 
BRED CATTLE IN THE UNITED STATES. 

The milking qualities of our domestic cows are, to 
some extent, artificial, the result of care and breeding. 
In the natural or wild state, the cow yields only 
enough to nourish her offspring for a few weeks, and 
then goes dry for several months, or during the greater 
part of the year. There is, therefore, a constant tend- 
ency to revert to that condition, which is prevented 
only by judicious treatment, designed to develop and 
increase the milking qualities so valuable to the human 
race. If this judicious treatment is continued through 
several generations of the same family or race of ani- 
mals, the qualities which it is calculated to develop 
become more or less fixed, and capable of transmission. 
Instead of being exceptional, or peculiar to an indi- 
vidual, they become the permanent characteristics of 
a breed. Hence the origin of a great variety of 
breeds or races, the characteristics of each being due 
to local circumstances, such as climate, soil, and the 
special objects of the breeder, which may be the pro- 
duction of milk, butter and cheese, or the raising of 
beef or working cattle. 

A knowledge of the history of different breeds, and 



10 INTEODUCTION. 

especially of the dairy breeds, is of manifest import- 
ance. Though very excellent milkers will sometimes 
be found in all of them, and of a great variety of forms, 
the most desirable dairy qualities will generally be 
found to have become fixed and permanent character- 
istics of some to a greater extent than of others ; but 
it does not follow that a race whose milking qualities 
have not been developed is of less value for other pur- 
poses, and for qualities which have been brought out 
with greater care. A brief sketch of the principal 
breeds of American cattle, as well as of the grades or 
the common stock of the country, will aid the farmer, 
perhaps, in making an intelligent selection with refer- 
ence to the special object of pursuit, whether it be the 
dairy, the production of beef, or the raising of cattle for 
work. 

In a subsequent chapter on the selection of milch 
cows, the standard of perfection will be discussed in 
detail, and the characteristics of each of the races will 
naturally be measured by that. In this connection, and 
as preliminary to the following sketches, it may be 
stated that, whatever breed may be selected, a full sup- 
ply of food and proper shelter are absolutely essential 
to the maintenance of any milking stock, the food of 
which goes to supply not only the ordinary waste of 
the system common to all animals, but also the milk 
secretions, which are greater in some than in others. 
A large animal on a poor pasture has to travel much 
further to fill itself than a small one. A small or 
medium-sized cow would return more milk in propor- 
tion to the food consumed, under such circumstances, 
than a large one. 

In selecting any breed, therefore, regard should be 
had to the circumstances of the farmer, and the object 
to be pursued. The cow most profitable for the milk- 



THE AYESHIRES. 



11 



dairy may be very unprofitable in the butter and cheese 
dairy, as well as for the production of beef; while for 
either of the latter objects the cow which gave the 
largest quantity of milk might prove very unprofitable. 
It is desirable to secure a union and harmony of all good 
qualities, so far as possible ; and the farmer wants a cow 
that will milk well for some years, and then, when dry, 
fatten readily, and sell to the butcher for the highest 
price. These qualities, though often supposed to be 
incompatible, will be found to be united in some breeds 
to a greater extent than in others ; while some pecu- 
liarities of form have been found, by observation, to be 
better adapted to the production of milk and beef than 
others. This will appear in the following pages. 

Among the pure-bred races in this country which 
come the nearest to the dairy standard, the Ayrshires 
are preeminent, and deserve the first rank. 




1. Ayrshire Cow. 



The Ayrshires are justly celebrated throughout 
Great Britain and this country for their excellent dairy 
qualities. Though the most recent in their origin, they 
are pretty distinct from the other Scotch and English 
races. In color, the pure Ayrshires are generally red 



12 POINTS. — ORIGIN. 

and white, spotted or mottled, not roan like many of the 
short-horns, but often presenting a bright contrast of 
colors. They are sometimes, though rarely, nearly or 
quite all red, and sometimes black and white ; but the 
favorite color is red and white brightly contrasted, and 
by some, strawberry-color is preferred. The head is 
small, fine, and clean ; the face long, and narrow at the 
muzzle, with a sprightly yet generally mild expression ; 
eye small, smart, and lively ; the horns short, fine, and 
slightly twisted upwards, set wide apart at the roots ; 
the neck thin; body enlarging from fore to hind quar- 
ters ; the back straight and narrow, but broad across 
the loin; joints rather loose and open; ribs rather flat; 
hind quarters rather thin ; bone fine ; tail long, fine and 
bushy at the end ; hair generally thin and soft ; udder 
light color and capacious, extending well forward under 
the belly ; teats of the cow of medium size, generally 
set regularly and wide apart ; milk-veins prominent and 
well developed. The carcass of the pure-bred Ayrshire 
is light, particularly the fore quarters, which is consid- 
ered by good judges as an index of great milking qual- 
ities ; but the pelvis is capacious and wide over the hips. 
On the whole, the Ayrshire is good-looking, but 
wants some of the symmetry and aptitude to fatten 
which characterize the short-horn, which is supposed 
to have contributed to build up this valuable breed 
on the basis of the original stock of the county of 
Ayr; a county extending along the eastern shore 
of the Frith of Clyde, in the south-western part of 
Scotland, and divided into three districts, known as 
Carrick, Cunningham, and Kyle: the first famous as 
the lordship of Robert Bruce, the last for the produc- 
tion of this, one of the most remarkable dairy breeds 
of cows in the world. The original stock of this 
county, which undoubtedly formed the basis of the 



HISTORY. — EARLY STOCK OF AYR. 13 

present Ayrshire breed, are described by Aiton, in bis 
Treatise on the Dairy Breed of Coivs, as of a diminu- 
tive size, ill fed, ill shaped, and yielding but a scanty 
return in milk. They were mostly of a black color, 
with large stripes of white along the chine and ridge of 
their backs, about the flanks, and on their faces. Their 
horns were high and crooked, having deep ringlets at 
the root, — the plainest proof that the cattle were but 
scantily fed ; the chine of their backs stood up high and 
narrow; their sides were lank, short, and thin; their 
hides thick, and adhering to their bones ; their pile was 
coarse and open ; and few of them yielded more than 
six or eight quarts of milk a day when in their best 
plight, or weighed when fat more than from twelve to 
sixteen or twenty stones avoirdupois, at eight pounds 
the stone, sinking offal. 

" It was impossible," he continues, " that these cattle, 
fed as they then were, could be of great weight, well 
shaped, or yield much milk. Their only food in winter 
and spring was oat-straw, and what they could pick up 
in the fields, to which they were turned out almost 
every day, with a mash of weak corn and chaff daily for 
a few days after calving ; and their pasture in summer 
was of the very worst quality, and eaten so bare that 
the cattle were half starved, and had the aspect of 
starvelings. A wonderful change has since been made 
in the condition, aspect, and qualities, of the Ayrshire 
dairy stock. They are not now the meagre, unshapely 
animals they were about forty years ago ; but have 
completely changed into something as different from 
what they were then as any two breeds in the island 
can be from each other. They are almost double the 
size, and yield about four times the quantity of milk 
that the Ayrshire cows then yielded. They were not 
of any specific breed, nor uniformity of shapes or color ; 
2 



14 AITON'S EECOLLECTIONS. 

neither was there any fixed standard by which they 
could be judged." 

Aiton wrote in 1815, and even then the Ayrshire cat- 
tle had been completely changed from what they were 
in 1770, and had, to a considerable extent, at least, set- 
tled doAvn into a breed with fixed characteristics, distin- 
guished especially for an abundant flow and a rich qual- 
ity of milk. A large part of the improvement then 
manifested was due to better feeding and care, but 
much, no doubt, to judicious crossing. Strange as it 
may seem, considering the modern origin of this breed, 
" all that is certainly known is that a century ago there 
was no such breed as Cunningham or Ayrshire in Scot- 
land. Did the Ayrshire cattle arise entirely from a 
careful selection of the best native breed ? If they did, 
it is a circumstance unparalleled in the history of agri- 
culture. The native breed may be ameliorated by care- 
ful selection;- its value may be incalculably increased; 
some good qualities, some of its best qualities, may be 
for the first time developed ; but yet there will be some 
resemblance to the original stock, and the more we 
examine the animal the more clearly we can trace out 
the characteristic points of the ancestor, although every 
one of them is improved." 

Aiton remembered well the time when some short- 
horn or Dutch cattle, as they were then called, were 
procured by some gentlemen in Scotland, and particu- 
larly by one John Dunlop, of Cunningham, who brought 
some Dutch cows — doubtless short-horns — to his 
byres soon after the year 1760. As they were then 
provided with the best of pasture, and the dairy was 
the chief object of the neighborhood, these cattle soon 
excited attention, and the small farmers began to raise 
up crosses from them. This was in Cunningham, one 
of the districts of Ayrshire, and Mr. Dunlop's were, 



THE TEESWATEK. — DUTCH. 15 

without doubt, among the first of the stranger breed 
that reached that region. About 1750, a little previous 
to the above date, the Earl of Marchmont bought of the 
Bishop of Durham several cows and a bull of the Tees- 
water breed, all of a brown color spotted with white, 
and kept them some time at his seat in Berwickshire. 
His lordship had extensive estates in Kyle, another dis- 
trict of Ayrshire, and thither his factor, Bruce Camp- 
bell, took some of the Teeswater breed and kept them 
for some time, and their progeny spread over various 
parts of Ayrshire. A bull, after serving many cows of 
the estates already mentioned, was sold to a Mr. Hamil- 
ton, in another quarter of Ayrshire, and raised a numer- 
ous offspring. 

About the year 1767, also, John Orr sent from Glas- 
gow to his estate in Ayrshire some fine milch cows, of 
a much larger size than any then in that region. One 
of them cost six pounds, which was more than twice 
the price of the best cow in that quarter. These cows 
Avere well fed, and of course yielded a large return of 
milk ; and the farmers, for miles around, were eager to 
get their calves to raise. 

About the same time, also, a few other noblemen and 
gentlemen, stimulated by example, bought cattle of the 
same appearance, in color brown spotted with white, all 
of them larger than the native cattle of the county, 
and when well fed yielding much larger quantities of 
milk, and their calves were all raised. Bulls of their 
breed and color were preferred to all others. 

From the description given of these cattle, there is 
no doubt that they were the old Teeswater, or Dutch ; 
the foundation, also, according to the best authorities, of 
the modern improved short-horns. With them and the 
crosses obtained from them the whole county gradu- 
ally became stocked, and supplied the neighboring 



1G EFFECT OF INJUDICIOUS CROSSING. 

counties, by degrees, till at present the whole region, 
comprising the counties of Ayr, Renfrew, Lanark, Dum- 
barton, and Stirling, and more than a fourth part of the 
whole population of Scotland, a large proportion of 
which is engaged in manufactures and commercial or 
mechanical pursuits, furnishing a ready market for milk 
and butter, is almost exclusively stocked with Ayrshires. 

The cross with larger cattle and the natives of Ayr- 
shire produced, for many years, an ugly-looking beast, 
and the farmers were long in finding out that they had 
violated one of the plain principles of breeding in 
coupling a large and small breed so indiscriminately 
together, especially in the use of bulls proportionately 
larger than the cows to which they were put. They 
did not then understand that no crosses could be made 
in that way to increase the size of a race, without a 
corresponding increase in the feed; and many very 
ill-shaped animals were the consequence of ignorance 
of a natural law. They made large bones, but they 
were never strong and vigorous in proportion to their 
size. Trying to keep large animals on poor pasture 
produced the same effect. The results of first crosses 
were therefore very unsatisfactory ; but gradually bet- 
ter feeding and a reduction in size came to their. aid, 
while in the course of years more enlightened views of 
farming led to higher cultivation, and consequently to 
higher and better care and attention to stock. The 
effect of crosses with the larger Teeswater or short- 
horn was not so disastrous in Ayrshire as in some of 
the mountain breeds, whose feed was far less, while 
their exposure on high and short pastures was greater. 

The climate of Ayrshire is moist and mild, and the 
soil rich, clayey, and well adapted to pasturage, but 
difficult to till. The cattle are naturally hardy and 
active, and capable of enduring severe winters, and 



IMPEOVEMENTS. — POEM OF THE BULL. 17 

of easily regaining condition with the return of spring 
and good feed. The pasture-land of the county is 
devoted to dairy stock, — chiefly for making butter 
and cheese, a small part only being used for fattening 
cows when too old to keep for the dairy. The breed 
has undergone very marked improvements since Aiton 
wrote, in 1815. The local demand for fresh dairy prod- 
ucts has very naturally taxed the skill and judgment of 
the farmers and dairy-men to the utmost, through a 
long course of years ; and thus the remarkable milking 
qualities of the Ayrshires have been developed to such a 
degree that they may be said to produce a larger quan- 
tity of rich milk and butter in proportion to the food 
consumed, or the cost of production, than any other of 
the pure-bred races. The owners of dairies in the 
county of Ayr and the neighborhood were generally 
small tenants, who took charge of their stock them- 
selves, saving and breeding from the offspring of good 
milkers, and drying off and feeding such as were found 
to be unprofitable for milk, for the butcher; and thus the 
production of milk and butter has for many years been 
the leading object with the owners of this breed, and 
symmetry of form and perfection of points for any other 
object have been very much disregarded, or, if regarded 
at all, only from this one point of view — the produc- 
tion of the greatest quantity of rich milk. 

The manner in which this result has been brought 
about may further be seen in a remark of Aiton, who 
says that the Ayrshire farmers prefer their dairy bulls 
according to the feminine aspect of their heads and 
necks, and wish them not round behind, but broad at 
the hook-bones and hips, and full in the flanks. This 
was more than forty years ago, and under such circum- 
stances, and with such care in the selection of bulls and 
cows with reference to one specific object, it is not 
2* 2 



18 YIELD. — QUANTITY. — QUALITY. 

surprising that we find a breed now wholly unsurpassed 
when the quantity and quality of their produce is con- 
sidered with reference to their proportional size and 




Ayrshire Bull. 

the food they consume. The Ayrshire cow has been 
known to produce over ten imperial gallons of good 
milk a day. 

A cow-feeder in Glasgow, selling fresh milk, is said 
to have realized two hundred and fifty dollars in seven 
months from one good cow ; and it is stated, on high 
authority, that a dollar a day for six months of the year 
is no uncommon income from good cows under similar 
circumstances, and that seventy-five cents a day is be- 
low the average. But this implies high and judicious 
feeding, of course : the average yield, on ordinary feed, 
would be considerably less. 

Youatt estimates the daily yield of an Ayrshire cow, 
for the first two or three months after calving, at five 
gallons a day, on an average ; for the next three months, 
at three gallons ; and for the next four months, at one 
gallon and a half. This would be 850 gallons as the 



YIELD INFLUENCED BY CLIMATE. 19 

annual average of a cow ; but, allowing for some unpro- 
ductive cows, lie estimates the average of a dairy at GOO 
gallons per annum for each cow. Three gallons and a 
half of the Ayrshire cow's milk will yield one and a 
half pounds of butter. He therefore reckons 257 
pounds of butter, or 514 pounds of cheese, at the rate 
of 24 pounds to 28 gallons of milk, as the yield of every 
cow, at a fair and perhaps rather low average, in an 
Ayrshire dairy, during the year. Aiton sets the yield 
much higher, saying that " thousands of the best Ayr- 
shire dairy-cows, when in prime condition and well fed, 
produce 1000 gallons of milk per annum; that in gene-- 
ral three and three quarters to four gallons of their milk 
will yield a pound and a half of butter ; and that 27^ 
gallons of their milk will make 21 pounds of full-milk 
cheese." Mr. Rankin puts it lower — at about 650 to 
700 gallons to each cow ; on his own farm of inferior 
soil, his dairy produced an average of 550 gallons only. 
One of the four cows originally imported into this 
country by John P. Cushing, Esq., of Massachusetts, 
gave in one year 3864 quarts, beer measure, or about 
464 gallons, at ten pounds to the gallon, being an aver- 
age of over ten and a half beer quarts a day for the 
whole year. It is asserted, on good authority, that the 
first Ayrshire cow imported by the Massachusetts Soci- 
ety for the Promotion of Agriculture, in 1837, yielded 
sixteen pounds of butter a week, for several weeks in 
succession, on grass feed only. These yields are not 
so large as those stated by Aiton ; but it should, per- 
haps, be recollected that our climate is less favorable 
to the production of milk than that of England and Scot- 
land, and that no cow imported after arriving at matur- 
ity could be expected to yield as much, under the same 
circumstances, as one bred on the spot where the trial 
is made, and perfectly acclimated. 



20 COMPABATIVE TRIALS. — HARLEY. 

In a series of experiments on the Earl of Chester- 
field's dairy farm, at Bradley Hall, interesting as giving 
positive data on which to form a judgment as to the 
yield, it was found that, in the height of the season, the 
Holderness cows gave 7 gallons 1 quart per diem; the 
long-horns and Alderneys, 4 gallons 3 quarts ; the Dev- 
ons, 4 gallons 1 quart ; and that, when made into butter, 
the above quantities gave, respectively, 38^ ounces, 28 
ounces, and 25 ounces. 

The Ayrshire, a cow far smaller than the Holderness, 
at 5 gallons of milk and 34 ounces of butter per day, 
gives a fair average as to yield of milk, and an enor- 
mous production of butter, giving within 4J- ounces as 
much from her 5 gallons as the Holderness from her 7 
gallons 1 quart ; her rate being nearly 7 ounces to the 
gallon, while that of the Holderness is considerably 
under 6 ounces. 

The evidence of a large and practical dairyman is cer- 
tainly of the highest value ; and in this connection it 
may be stated that Mr. Harley, the author of the Harle- 
ian Dairy System, who established the celebrated Wil- 
lowbank Dairy, in Glasgow, and who kept, at times, 
from two hundred and sixty to three hundred cows, 
always using the utmost care in selection, says that he 
had cows, by way of experiment, from different parts 
of the united kingdom. He purchased ten at one Edin- 
burgh market, of the large short-horned breed, at 
twenty pounds each, but these did not give more milk, 
nor better in quality, than Ayrshire cows that were 
bought at the same period for thirteen pounds a head ; 
and, on comparison, it was found that the latter were 
much cheaper kept, and that they improved much more 
in beef and fat in proportion to their size, than the 
high-priced cows. A decided preference was therefore 
given to the improved Ayrshire breed, from seven to 



BUYING. — HAELEY 7 S EULES. 21 

ten years old, and from eight to twenty pounds a head. 
Prime young cows were too high-priced for stall feed- 
ing ; old cows were generally the most profitable in the 
long run, especially if they were not previously in good 
keeping. The cows were generally bought when near 
calving, which prevented the barbarous practice called 
hafting, or allowing the milk to remain upon the cow 
for a considerable time before she is brought to the 
market. This base and cruel custom is always perni- 
cious to the cow, and in consequence of it she seldom 
recovers her milk for the season. The middling and 
large sizes of cows were preferred, such as weighed 
from thirty-five to fifty stone, or from five hundred to 
eight hundred pounds. 

According to Mr. Harley, the most approved shape 
and marks of a good dairy cow are as follows : Head 
small, long, and narrow towards the muzzle ; horns 
small, clear, bent, and placed at considerable distance 
from each other ; eyes not large, but brisk and lively ; 
neck slender and long, tapering towards the head, with 
a little loose skin below ; shoulders and fore quarters 
light and thin ; hind quarters large and broad ; back 
straight, and joints slack and open ; carcass deep in the 
rib ; tail small and long, reaching to the heels ; legs 
small and short, with firm joints ; udder square, but a 
little oblong, stretching forward, thin-skinned and capa- 
cious, but not low hung; teats or paps small, pointing- 
outwards, and at a considerable distance from each 
other; milk-veins capacious and prominent; skin loose, 
thin, and soft like a glove ; hair short, soft, and woolly ; 
general figure, when in flesh, handsome and well pro- 
portioned. 

If this description of the Ayrshire cow be correct, it 
will be seen that her head and neck are remarkably 
clean and fine, the latter swelling gradually towards the 



22 DOCILITY. — TREATMENT. 

shoulders, both parts being unincumbered with superflu- 
ous flesh. The same general form extends backwards, 
the fore quarters being light, the shoulders thin, and the 
carcass swelling out towards the hind quarters, so that 
standing in front of her it has the form of a blunted 
wedge. Such a structure indicates very fully devel- 
oped digestive organs, which exert a powerful influence 
on the exercise of all the functions of the body, and 
especially on the secretion of the milky glands, accom- 
panied with milk-veins and udder partaking of the same 
character as the stomach and viscera, being large and 
capacious, while the external skin and interior walls of 
the milk-glands are thin and elastic, and all parts 
arranged in a manner especially calculated for the pro- 
duction of milk. 

A cow with these marks will generally be of a quiet 
and docile temper, which greatly enhances her value. 
A cow that is of a quiet and contented disposition feeds 
at ease, is milked with ease, and yields more than one 
of an opposite temperament; while after she is past her 
usefulness as a milker she will easily take on fat, and 
make fine beef and a good quantity of tallow, because 
she feeds freely, and when dry the food which went to 
make milk is converted into fat and flesh. But there is no 
breed of cows with which gentleness of treatment is so 
indispensable as with the Ayrshire, on account of her 
naturally nervous temperament. If she receive other 
than kind and gentle treatment, she will often resent it 
with angry looks and gestures, and withhold her milk ; 
and if such treatment is long continued, will dry up ; 
but she willingly and easily yields it to the hand that 
fondles her, and all her looks and movements towards 
her friends are quiet and mild. 

As already remarked, the Ayrshires in their native 
country are generally bred for the dairy, and no other 



CROSSES. — FATTENING QUALITIES. 23 

object ; and the cows have obtained a just and world- 
wide reputation for this quality. The oxen are, however, 
very fair as working cattle, though they cannot be said 
to excel other breeds in this respect. The Ayrshire 
steer may be fed and turned at three years old, but for 
feeding purposes the Ayrshires are greatly improved 
by a cross with the short-horns, provided regard is had 
to the size of the animals. It is the opinion of good 
breeders that a high-bred short-horn bull and a large- 
sized Ayrshire cow will produce a calf which will come 
to maturity earlier, and attain greater weight, and sell 
for more money, than a pure-bred Ayrshire. This cross, 
with feeding from the start, may be sold fat at two or 
three years old, the improvement being especially seen 
in the earlier maturity and the size. Even Youatt, 
who maintains that the fattening properties of the Ayr- 
shires have been somewhat exaggerated, admits that 
they will fatten kindly and profitably, and that their 
meat will be good; while he also asserts that they 
unite, perhaps, to a greater degree than any other 
breed, the supposed incompatible qualities of yielding 
a great deal of milk and beef. 

In the cross with the short-horn, the form becomes 
ordinarily more symmetrical, while there is, perhaps, 
little risk of lessening the milking qualities of the off- 
spring, if sufficient regard is paid to the selection of the 
individual animals to breed from. It is thought by 
some that in the breeding of animals it is the male 
which gives the external form, or the bony and muscu- 
lar system of the young, while the female imparls the 
respiratory organs, the circulation of the blood, the 
mucous membranes, the organs of secretion, <fec. 

If this principle is true, it follows that the milking 
qualities come chiefly from the mother, and that the 
bull can not materially alter the conditions which 



24 SELECTIONS FOR BREEDING. 

determine the transmission of these qualities, especially 
when they are as strongly marked as they are in the 
Ayrshire or the Jersey races. Others, however, main- 
tain that it is more important to the perfection of their 
dairy to make a good choice of bulls than of heifers, 
because the property of giving much milk is more 
surely transmitted by the male than the female. Others 
still maintain that both parents are represented in the 
offspring, but that it is impossible to say beforehand 
what parts of the derivative system are to be ascribed 
to the one parent and what to the other, and that there 
is a blending and interfusion of the qualities of both 
which prevent the body of their progeny being mapped 
out into distinct regions, or divided into separate sets 
of organs, of which we can say, " This is from the 
father, that from the mother." 

Till this question is settled, it is safe, in breeding for 
the dairy, to adhere to the rule of selecting only ani- 
mals whose progenitors on both sides have been distin- 
guished for their milking qualities. But where the his- 
tory of either is unknown, a resort to a well-known 
breed, remarkable for its dairy qualities, is - of no small 
importance ; since, though the immediate ancestors of 
a male may not be known, if he belongs to a dairy 
breed, it is fair to presume that his progenitors were 
milkers. A study and comparison of the size and 
form of the milk mirror, and other points, indicated by 
Guenon, on a subsequent page, are worthy of careful 
consideration in selecting animals to breed from for the 
dairy, not only among pure-bred animals, but especially 
in crossing. In the scale of points adopted in England 
and this country as the standard of perfection for an 
Ayrshire cow, the udder, on wdiich Guenon placed so 
much reliance, is valued at twelve times as much as 



SUPEEIOEITT' OF AYESHIEES. 25 

that of the Devon, "because/' as the judges affirm, 
" the Ayrshires have been bred almost exclusively with 
reference to their milking properties." 

We must conclude, then, that " for purely dairy pur- 
poses the Ayrshire cow deserves the first place. In 
consequence of her small, symmetrical, and compact 
body, combined with a well-formed chest and a capa- 
cious stomach, there is little waste, comparatively 
speaking, through the respiratory system ; while, at the 
same time, there is very complete assimilation of the 
food, and thus she converts a large proportion of her 
food into milk. So remarkable is this fact, that all dairy 
farmers who have any experience on the point agree in 
stating that an Ayrshire cow generally gives a larger 
return of milk for the food consumed than a cow of any 
other breed. The absolute quantity may not be so 
great, but it is obtained at a less cost ; and this is the 
point upon which the question of profit depends." 

I have dwelt thus at length upon this race for the 
reason that it is preeminently a dairy breed, surpassing all 
other pure breeds in the production of rich milk and but- 
ter on soils of medium fertility, and admirably adapted, 
in my opinion, to raise the character of our stock to a 
higher standard of excellence. The best milkers I have 
ever known, in the course of my own observations, 
were grade Ayrshires, larger in size than the pure 
bloods, but still sufficiently high grades to give certain 
signs of their origin. I have owned several such, which 
were all good cows. This grade would seem to possess 
the advantage of combining, to some extent, the two 
qualities of milking and adaptation to beef; and this 
is no small recommendation of the stock to farmers 
situated as American farmers are, who wish for milk for 
some years and then to turn over to the butcher. 
3 



26 



THE JERSEYS. — GENERAL ESTIMATE. 



The Jersey cattle have now become widely known 
in this country. Many of them have been imported 
from an island of the same name in the British Channel, 
near the coast of France, and they may now be con- 
sidered, I think, as fully acclimated. They were first 
introduced over thirty years ago, from the channel 
islands Alderney, Guernsey, and Jersey. 




Fig. 3. Jersey Cow 

The opinions of practical men differ widely as to the 
comparative merits of this race, and its adaptation to 
our climate and to the wants of our farmers. The most 
common decision, prevailing among many even of the 
best judges of stock, appears to be, that, however desir- 
able the cows may be on the lawn or in a gentleman's 
park, they are wholly unsuited to the general wants of 
the practical farmer. This may or may not be the case. 
If the farmer keeps a dairy farm and sells only milk, 
the quantity and not the quality of which is his chief 
care, he can satisfy himself better with some other 
breed. If otherwise situated, — if he devotes his time 



haxton's OPINION. FORM. 27 

to the making of butter for the supply of customers 
who are willing to pay for a good article,- — he may 
very properly consider whether a few Jerseys, or an 
infusion of Jersey blood, may not be desirable. Hax- 
ton calls the Jersey cow the cheese and butter dairy- 
man's friend when her milk is diluted with that of 
ten or a dozen ordinary cows, and his enemy if he 
should attempt to make either cheese or butter solely 
from her produce, as, from the excessive richness of the 
.milk, neither will keep long; and, finally, an ornament 
to the rich man's lawn, yet in aspect altogether devoid 
of those rounded outlines which constitute the crite- 
rion of animal beauty. 

The Jersey race is supposed to have been derived 
originally from Normandy, in the northern part of 
France. The cows have been long celebrated for the 
production of very rich milk and cream, but till within 
a quarter of a century they were comparatively coarse, 
ugly, and ill-shaped. Improvements have been very 
marked, but the form of the animal is still far from 
satisfying the eye. The head of the pure Jersey is 
fine and tapering, the cheek small, the throat clean, 
the muzzle fine and encircled with a light stripe, the 
nostril high and open ; the horns smooth, crumpled, not 
very thick at the base, tapering, and tipped with black ; 
ears small and thin, deep orange color inside ; eyes full 
and placid ; neck straight and fine ; chest broad and 
deep ; barre'l hooped, broad and deep, well ribbed up ; 
back straight from the withers to the hip, and from the 
top of the hip to the setting on of the tail; tail fine, at 
right angles with the back, and hanging down to the 
hocks ; skin thin, light color and mellow, covered with 
fine soft hair; fore legs short, straight and fine below 
the knee, arm swelling and full above ; hind quarters 
long and well filled ; hind legs short and straight below 



28 CHARACTERISTICS. — BEAUTY. 

the hocks, with bones rather fine, squarely placed, and 
not too close together ; hoofs small ; udder full in size, 
in line with the belly, extending well up behind ; teats 
of medium size, squarely placed and wide apart, and 
milk-veins very prominent. The color is generally 
cream, dun, or yellow, with more or less white, and the 
fine head and neck give the cows and heifers a fawn- 
like appearance, and make them objects of attraction in 
the park; but the hind quarters are often too narrow 
to look well, particularly to those who judge animals 
from the amount of fat they carry. We should bear in 
mind, however, that a good race of animals is not 
always the most beautiful, as that term is commonly 
understood. Beauty in stock has no fixed standard. 
In the estimation of some, it results mainly from fine 
forms, small bones, and close, compact frames ; while 
others consider that structure the most perfect, and 
therefore the most beautiful, which is best adapted to 
the use to which it is destined. According to the lat- 
ter, beauty is relative. It is not the same in an animal 
designed for beef and in one designed for the dairy or 
for work. The beauty of a milch cow is the result of 
her good qualities. Large milkers are very rarely 
cows that please the eye of any but a skilful judge. 
They are generally poor, because their food goes mainly 
to the production of milk, and because they are selected 
with less regard to form than to good milking qual- 
ities. We meet with good milkers of all forms, from 
the round, close-built Devon to the coarsest-boned 
scrub ; but, with all their varieties of form and struc- 
ture, good cows will usually possess certain points of 
similarity and well-known marks by which they are 
known to the eyes of the judge. 

It is asserted by Colonel Le Couteur, of the island of 
Jersey, that, contrary to the general opinion here, the 



JEESEYS. 



FATTENING. 



BULLS. 



29 



Jersey cow, when old and no longer wanted as a milker, 
will, when dry and fed, fatten rapidly, and produce a 
good quantity and excellent quality of butcher's meat. 
An old cow, he says, was put up to fatten in October, 
1850, weighing 1125 pounds, and when killed, the 6th 
of January, 1851, she weighed 1330 pounds ; having 
gained 205 pounds in ninety-eight days, on twenty 
pounds of hay, a little wheat-straw, and thirty pounds 
of roots, consisting of carrots, Swedes, and mangold 
wurzel, a day. The prevailing opinion as to the beauty 
of the Jersey is based on the general appearance of the 
cow in milk, no experiments in feeding exclusively for 
beef having been made, to my knowledge, and no 
opportunity to form a correct judgment from actual 
observation having been furnished ; and it must be con- 
fessed that the general appearance would amply justify 
the hasty conclusion. 




Fig. 4. Jersey Bull. 

The bulls are usually very different in character and 
disposition from the cows, and are much inclined to 
3* 



30 PLACE FOE THE JEESETS. 

become restive and cross at the age of two or three 
years, unless their treatment is uniformly gentle and 
firm. The accompanying figure very accurately repre- 
sents one of the best animals of the race in the vicinity 
of Boston, which has been pronounced by good judges 
a model of a bull for a dairy breed. 

The beautiful Jersey cow " Flirt," figured on page 
26, received the first prize at the Fair of the Massa- 
chusetts State Board of Agriculture in 1857, which 
brought together the largest and finest collection of 
Jersey cattle ever made in this country. She is well- 
shaped, and a very superior dairy cow. Her dam, 
Flora, was very remarkable for the richness of her milk 
and the quantity of her butter, having made no less 
than five hundred and eleven pounds in one year, with- 
out extra feeding. 

From what has been said it is evident that the Jer- 
sey is to be regarded as a dairy breed, and that almost 
exclusively. It is evident, too, that it would not be 
sought for large dairies kept for the supply of milk to 
cities ; for, though the quality would gratify the cus- 
tomer, the quantity would not satisfy the owner. The 
place of the Jersey cow is rather in private establish- 
ments, where the supply of cream and butter is a suffi- 
cient object, or, in limited numbers, to add richness to 
the milk of large butter dairies. Even one or two good 
Jersey cows with a herd of fifteen or twenty, will make 
a great difference in the quality of the milk and butter 
of the whole establishment ; and they would probably 
be profitable for this, if for no other object. 

Other breeds are somewhat noted in Great Britain 
for their excellent dairy qualities, and among them 
might be named the Yorkshire and the Kerry ; but they 
have never been introduced into this country to any 



SHORT-HOENS. ORIGIN. 



31 



extent ; or, if they ever were, no traces of them as a 
distinct breed can now be found here. 




^MfM'^^"^^ 



, 5. SLort-horn Cow 



The Short-horns. — No breed of horned cattle has 
commanded more universal admiration during the last 
half-century than the improved Short-horns, whose ori- 
gin can be traced back for nearly a hundred years. 
According to the best authorities, the stock which 
formed the basis of improvement existed equally in 
Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Northumberland, and counties 
adjoining; and the preeminence was accorded to Dur- 
ham, which gave its name to the race, from the more 
correct principles of breeding which seem to have pre- 
vailed there. 

There is a dispute among the most eminent breed- 
ers as to how far it owes its origin to early importations 
from Holland, whence many superior animals were 
brought for the purpose of improving the old long- 
horned breed. A large race of cattle had existed for 
many years on the western shores of the continent of 
Europe. At a very early date, as early as 1633, they 



32 DUTCH. — HOLDERNESS. — HTTBBACK. 

were imported from Denmark into New England in con- 
siderable numbers, and thus laid the foundation of a 
valuable stock in this country. They extended along 
the coast, it is said, through Holland to France. The 
dairy formed a prominent branch of farming at a very 
early date in Holland, and experience led to the great- 
est care in the choice and breeding of dairy stock. 
From these cattle many selections were made to cross 
over to the counties of York and Durham. The pre- 
vailing color of the large Dutch cattle was black and 
white, beautifully contrasted. 

The cattle produced by these crosses a century ago 
were known under the name of " Dutch." The cows 
selected for crossing with the early imported Dutch 
bulls were generally long-horned, large-boned, coarse 
animals, a fair type of which was found in the old " Hold- 
erness" breed of Yorkshire, — slow feeders, strong in 
the shoulder, defective in the fore quarter, and not very 
profitable for the butcher, their meat being " coarse to 
the palate and uninviting to the eye." Their milking 
qualities were good, surpassing, probably, those of the 
improved short-horns. Whatever may be the truth with 
regard to these crosses, and however far they proved 
effective in creating or laying the foundation of the 
modern improved short-horns, the results of the efforts 
made in Yorkshire and some of the adjoining counties 
were never so satisfactory to the best judges as those 
of the breeders along the Tees, who selected animals 
with greater reference to fineness of bone and symme- 
try of form, and the animals they bred soon took the 
lead, and excited great emulation in improvement. 

The famous bull "Hubback," bred by Mr. Turner, of 
Hurworth, and subsequently owned by Mr. Colling, 
laid the foundation of the celebrity of the short-horns, 
and it is the pride of short-horn breeders to trace back 



COMET. — BREEDERS OF SHORT-HORNS. 33 

to him. He was calved in 1777, and his descendants, 
Foljambe, Bolingbroke, Favorite, and Comet, perma- 
nently fixed the characteristics of the breed. Comet 
was so highly esteemed among breeders, that he sold 
at one thousand guineas, or over five thousand dollars. 
Hubback is thought by some to have been a pure short- 
horn, and by others a grade or mixture. 

Many breeders had labored long previous to the 
brothers Charles and Robert Colling, especially on the 
old Teeswater short-horns ; yet a large share of the 
credit of improving and establishing the reputation of 
the improved short-horns is generally accorded to the 
Collings. Certain it is that the spirit and discrimination 
with which they selected and bred soon became known, 
and a general interest was awakened in the breed at 
the time of the sale of Charles Colling's herd, October 
11, 1810. It was then that Mr. Bates, of Kirkleaving- 
ton, purchased the celebrated heifer Duchess I., whose 
family sold, in 1850, after his decease, at an average of 
one hundred and sixteen pounds five shillings per head, 
including young calves. Many representatives of the 
Duchess family, which laid the foundation of Mr. Bates' 
success as a breeder, have been brought to this country. 
They may, perhaps, be regarded as an exception to the 
modern improved short-horns, their milking qualities 
being generally very superior. 

The sale referred to, and those of R. Colling's herd, 
in 1818, and that of Lord Spencer, in 1846, as well as that 
of the Kirkleavington herd, in 1850, and especially that 
of the herd of Lord Ducie, two years later, are marked 
eras in the history of improved short-horns ; and 
through these sales, and the universal enthusiasm awak- 
ened by them, the short-horns have become more widely 
spread over Great Britain, and more generally fashion- 
able, than any other breed. They have also been largely 

3 



34 



CEEAMPOTS. 



C(ELEBS. DENTON. 



introduced into France by the government, for the 
improvement of the various French breeds by. crossing, 
and into nearly every quarter of the civilized world. 




I'ig. 6. Short-horn Bull. 



Importations have been frequent and extensive into 
the United States within the last few years, and this 
famous breed is now pretty generally diffused over the 
country. 

The use of the early-imported short-horn bulls and 
native cows led to the formation of many families of 
grades, some of them bred back to the sire, and others 
crossed high up, which have attained a very consider- 
able local reputation in many sections. As instances 
of this, may be mentioned the Creampot stock, obtained 
by Col. Jaques from a short-horn bull, Ccelebs, and 
a superior native cow. A family of fine milkers still 
exists in Massachusetts, known by the name of the 
" Sukey breed," supposed to have been derived from 
" Denton," a very superior animal imported by Mr. Wil- 
liams, of Northboro', some forty years ago. Many of 
the best milkers of that section can be traced back to 



EVILS OF OVEEFEEDING. 35 

him. The Patton stock, originally imported into Mary- 
land and Virginia, in 1783, and thence to Kentucky, 
may be classed in the same category. A part of these 
were at first known as the " milk breed," and others as 
the "beef breed:" the first short-horns, at that time 
good milkers, and the latter long-horns, of large size 
and coarse in the bone. In Kentucky they were all 
known as the Patton stock. 

The high-bred short-horn is easily prepared for a 
show, and, as fat will cover faults, the temptation is 
often too great to be resisted ; and hence it is common 
to. see the .finest animals rendered unfit for breeding 
purposes by over-feeding. The race is susceptible of 
breeding for the production of milk, as several families 
show, and great milkers have often been known among 
pure-bred animals ; but it is more common to find it 
bred mainly for the butcher, and kept accordingly. It 
is, however, a well-known fact that' the dairies of Lon- 
don are stocked chiefly with short-horns and York- 
shires, or high grades between them, which, after being 
milked as long as profitable, feed equal, or nearly so, 
to pure-bred short-horns. 

It has been said, by very high authority, that " the 
short-horns improve every breed they cross with." 

The desirable characteristics of the short-horn bull 
may be summed up, according to the judgment of the 
best breeders, as follows: He should have a short but 
fine head, very broad across the eyes, tapering to the 
nose, with a nostril full and prominent; the nose itself 
should be of a rich flesh-color ; eyes bright and mild ; 
ears somewhat large and thin ; horns slightly curved 
and rather flat, well set on a long, broad, muscular 
neck ; chest wide, deep, and projecting ; shoulders fine, 
oblique, well formed into the chine ; fore legs short, 
with upper arm large and powerful ; barrel round, deep, 



36 EARLY MATURITY. — QUALITY. 

well ribbed home ; hips wide and level ; back straight 
from the withers to the setting on of the tail, but short 
from hip to chine ; skin soft and velvety to the touch ; 
moderately thick hair, plentiful, soft, and mossy. The 
cow has the same points in the main, but her head is 
finer, longer, and more tapering, neck thinner and 
lighter, and shoulders more narrow across the chine. 

The astonishing precocity of the short-horns, their 
remarkable aptitude to fatten, the perfection of their 
forms, and the fineness of their bony structure, give 
them an advantage over most other races when the 
object of breeding is for the shambles. No animal of 
any other breed can so rapidly transform the stock of 
any section around him as the improved short-horn bull. 

But it does not follow that the high-bred short-horns 
are unexceptionable even for beef. The very exag- 
geration, so to speak, of the qualities which make them 
so valuable for the improvement of other and less per- 
fect races, may become a fault when wanted for the 
table. The very rapidity with which they increase in 
size is thought by some to prevent their meat from 
ripening up sufficiently before being hurried off to the 
butcher. The disproportion of the fatty to the mus- 
cular flesh, found in this to a greater extent than in 
races coming slower to maturity, makes the meat of the 
thorough-bred short-horn, in the estimation of some, 
both less agreeable to the taste and less profitable to 
the .consumer, since the nitrogenous compounds, true 
sources of nutriment, are found in less quantity than in 
the meat of animals not so highly bred. 

But the improved short-horn is justly unrivalled for 
symmetry of form and beauty. I have never seen a 
picture or an engraving of an animal which gave an 
adequate idea of the beauty of many specimens of this 
race, especially of the best bred in Kentucky and Ohio, 



SYMMETRY. 



THE DUTCH RACE. 



37 



where many excellent breeders, favored by a climate 
and pastures eminently adapted to bring the short-horn 
to perfection, have not only imported extensively from 
the best herds in England, but have themselves attained 
a degree of knowledge and skill equalled only by that 
of the most celebrated breeders in the native country 
of this improved race. 

In sections where the climate is moist and the food 
abundant and rich, some families of the short-horns may 
be valuable for the dairy ; but they are most frequently 
bred exclusively for beef in this country, and in sec- 
tions where they have attained the highest perfection 
of form and beauty so little is thought of their milking 
qualities that they are often not milked at all, the calf 
being allowed to run with the dam. 




Imported Dutch Cow. 



The Dutch is a short-horned race of cattle, which, in 
the opinion of many, as I have already remarked, con- 
tributed largely, about a century ago, to build up the 
Durham or Teeswater stock. It has been bred with 
4 



38 



THE DUTCH RACE. 



special reference to dairy qualities, and is eminently 
adapted to supply the wants of the dairy farmer. 

The cow, Fig. 7, was bred in North Holland, and im- 
ported by Winthrop W. Chenery, Esq., of Watertown, 




Fig. 8. Imported Dutch Bull. 

in 1857. The bull, Fig. 8, was also imported by Mr. 
Chenery at the same time, from near the Beemster, in the 
northerly part of Purmerend. Both animals are truth- 
fully delineated, and give a correct idea of the points 
of the North Dutch cattle. For a more detailed descrip- 
tion of this celebrated dairy race, see pages 51 and 301. 
Herepords. — The Hereford cattle derive their name 
from a county in the western part of England. Their 
general characteristics are a white face, sometimes mot- 
tled ; white throat, the white generally extending back 
on the neck, and sometimes, though rarely, still further 
along on the back. The color of the rest of the body 
is red, generally dark, but sometimes light. Eighty 
years ago the best Hereford cattle were mottled or 
roan all over; and some of the best herds, down to a 



THE HEEEFORDS. — THEIR POINTS, 



39 



comparatively recent period, were either all mottled, 
or had the mottled or speckled face. The expression 




Fig. 9. Hereford Cow. 

of the face is mild and lively; the forehead open, broad, 
and large ; the eyes bright and full of vivacity',* the 
horns glossy, slender, and spreading ; the head small, 
though larger and not quite so clean as that of the 
Devons ; the lower jaw fine ; neck long and slender ; 
chest deep ; breast-bone large, prominent, and very 
muscular; the shoulder-blade light; shoulder full and 
soft ; brisket and loins large ; hips well developed, and 
on a level with the chine ; hind quarters long and well 
rilled in ; buttocks on a level with the back, neither 
falling off nor raised above the hind quarters ; tail slen- 
der, well- set on ; hair fine and soft ; body round and 
full ; carcass deep and well formed, or cylindrical ; bone 
small ; thigh short and well made ; legs short and straight, 
and slender below the knee ; as handlers very excel- 
lent, especially mellow to the touch on the back, the 
shoulder, and along the sides, the skin being soft, flex- 
ible, of medium thickness, rolling on the neck and the 



40 CHARACTEEISTICS. — TOMKINS. 

hips ; hair bright ; face almost bare, which is character- 
istic of pure-bred Herefords. They belong to the 
middle-horned division of the cattle of Great Britain, 
to which they are indigenous. They have been im- 
proved within the last century by careful selections, 
the first step to this end having been taken by Benja- 
min Tomkins, of Herefordshire, who began about 1766, 
with two cows possessing a remarkable tendency to 
take on fat. One of these was gray, and the other 
dark red, with a mottled or spotted face. 

Taking these as a foundation, Mr. Tomkins went on 
to build up a large herd, from which he sold to 
other breeders, from time to time, till at his decease, in 
1819, the whole herd was disposed of at auction — fifty- 
two animals, including twenty-two steers and two heif- 
ers, varying in age from calves to two-year-olds, bring- 
ing an aggregate of four thousand six hundred and 
seventy-three pounds, fourteen shillings, or four hun- 
dred and forty-five dollars, thirty-seven and a half cents, 
a head. A bull was sold to Lord Talbot for five hun- 
dred and eighty-eight pounds, while several cows 
brought from a thousand to twelve hundred dollars a 
head. 

Hereford oxen are excellent animals, less active but 
stronger than the Devons, and very free and docile. 
The demand for Herefords for beef prevents their being 
much used for work in their native county, and the 
farmers there generally use horses instead of oxen. A 
recent writer in the Farmer's Magazine makes the fol- 
lowing remarks on this head : " It is allowed on all 
hands, I believe, that the properties in which Herefords 
stand preeminent among the middle-sized breeds are in 
the production of oxen and their superiority of flesh. 
On these points there is little chance of their being- 
excelled. It should, however, be borne in mind that 



HEREFORD OXEN. 



41 



the best oxen are not produced from the largest cows ; 
nor is a superior quality of flesh, such as is considered 




Hereford Bull. 



very soft to the touch, with thin skin. It is the union 
of these two qualities which often characterizes the 
short-horns ; but the Hereford breeders should endeavor 
to maintain a higher standard of excellence, — that for 
which the best of the breed have always been esteemed, 
— a moderately thick, mellow hide, with a well-appor- 
tioned combination of softness with elasticity. A suffi- 
ciency of hair is also desirable, and if accompanied with 
a disposition to curl moderately it is more in esteem ; 
but that which has a harsh and wiry feel is objection- 
able." 

In point of symmetry and beauty of form, the well- 
bred Herefords maybe classed with the improved short- 
horns, though they arrive somewhat slower at maturity, 
and never attain such weight. Like the improved short- 
horns, they are chiefly bred for beef, and their beef is 
of the best quality in the English markets, command- 
ing the highest price of any, except, perhaps, the West 



Highlanders. 



4* 



42 COMPARED WITH SHORT-HORNS. 

In an experiment carefully tried in 1828, for the pur- 
pose of arriving at the comparative economy of the 
short-horns and Herefords, the latter gained less by 
nearly one fourth than the former, which had consumed 
more food. The six animals, three of each breed, were 
sold after being fed, in Smithfield market, the Herefords 
bringing less by only about five dollars than the short- 
horns, while the cost of food consumed by the latter 
was greater, and the original purchase greater than that 
of the former. 

The short-horn produces more beef at the same age 
than the Hereford, but consumes more food in propor- 
tion. " In all the fairs of England," says Hillyard, " ex- 
cept those of Herefordshire and the adjoining counties, 
short-horn heifers are more sought after and sell at 
higher prices than the Hereford ; but it is not so with 
fat cattle, for, with the exception of Lincolnshire and 
some of the northern counties, they much prefer the 
Herefords. Then at Smithfield, where the quality of 
the beef passes its final judgment, the pound of Here- 
ford beef pays better than the pound of short-horn beef. 
Short-horn beeves produce at the same age a greater 
weight, it is true, but they also consume more food. I 
can easily conceive why, in the magnificent pastures of 
Lincolnshire, and some of the northern counties of 
England, they may prefer the short-horns ; and that is, 
that they may keep a less number on a given quantity 
of land, and only the short-horn could, under these con- 
ditions, produce a greater weight of beef per acre. It 
is very difficult to decide which of the two races in 
England (the two best in the world) is the most profit- 
able for stock-raisers and for the community." There 
are, even in Lincolnshire, many good feeders who pre- 
fer the Herefords to the shorthorns. One of these, 
when visited the past season, had thirty head of cattle 



A farmer's opinion. 43 

feeding for the butcher, and only one short-horn. When 
asked the reason of this, he replied, " I am a farmer 
myself, and have to pay high rent, and I must feed 
the cattle that pay me best. Perhaps you think it 
would be more in fashion to cover my fields with short- 
horns ; but I must look to the net profit, and I get much 
better with the Herefords. The short-horns are too full 
of fat and make too little tallow, and they consequently 
sell too low in the Smithfield market. Our Herefords 
are better, and they sell better." 

The Herefords are far less generally spread over 
England than the improved short-horns. They have 
seldom been bred for milk, as some families of the 
short-horns have ; and it is not very unusual to find 
pure-bred cows incapable of supplying milk sufficient 
to nourish their calves. This system was pursued es- 
pecially by Mr. Price, a skilful Hereford breeder, who 
sacrified everything to form, disregarding milking prop- 
erties, breeding often from near relations, and thus fix- 
ing the fault incident to his system more or less perma- 
nently in the descendants of his stock. 

The Herefords have been brought to this country, to 
some extent, and several fine herds exist in different 
sections ; the earliest importations being those of Henry 
Clay, of Kentucky, in 1817. The figures of the two 
animals of this breed presented in this connection rep- 
resent a bull and cow bred at the State Farm, in Massa- 
chusetts, and are good specimens of the breed. 

The want of care and attention to the udder, soon 
after calving, especially if the cow be on luxuriant 
grass, often injures her milking properties exceedingly. 
The practice in the county of Hereford has generally 
been to let the calves suckle from four to six months, 
and bull-calves often run eight months with the cow. 
But their dairy qualities are perhaps as good as those 



44 



THE NORTH DEVONS. 



of any cattle whose fattening properties have been so 
carefully developed; and, though it is probable that 
they could be bred for milk by proper care and atten- 
tion, yet, as this change would be at the sacrifice of 
other qualities equally valuable, it would evidently be 
wiser to resort to other stock for the dairy. 



I: .'"'-Mi v 





Fig*. 11. Devon Cow. 

The North Devons. — The last of the pure-bred races 
which it will be necessary to describe as prominent 
among our American cattle is the Devon, a middle- 
horned breed, now very generally distributed in some 
sections of the country. 

This beautiful race of cattle dates further back than 
any well-established breed among us. It goes gener- 
ally under the simple name of Devon ; but the cattle of 
the southern part of the county, from which the race 
derives its name, differ somewhat from those of the 
northern, having a larger and coarser frame, and far 
less tendency to fatten, though their dairy qualities are 
superior. 



CHARACTERISTICS. — WORKING CATTLE. 45 

The North Devons are remarkable for hardihood, sym- 
metry, and beauty, and are generally bred for work and for 
beef rather than for the dairy. The head is fine and well 
set on; the horns of medium length, generally curved; 
color usually bright blood-red, but sometimes inclining 
to yellow ; skin thin and orange-yellow ; hair of medium 
length, soft and silky, making the animals remarkable as 
handlers ; muzzle of the nose white ; eyes full and mild ; 
ears yellowish, or orange-color inside, of moderate size ; 
neck rather long, with little dewlap ; shoulders oblique ; 
legs small and straight, and feet in proportion ; chest of 
good width ; ribs round and expanded ; loins of first-rate 
quality, long, wide, and fleshy ; hips round, of medium 
width ; rump level ; tail full near the setting on, taper- 
ing to the tip ; thighs of the bull and ox muscular and 
full, and high in the flank, though in the cow sometimes 
thought to be too light ; the size medium, generally 
called small. The proportion of meat on the valuable 
parts is greater, and the offal less, than on most other 
breeds, while it is well settled that they consume less 
food in its production. The Devons are popular with 
the Smithfield butchers, and their beef is well marbled 
or grained. 

As working oxen, the Devons perhaps excel all other 
races in quickness, docility, and beauty, and the ease 
with which they are matched. With a reasonable load, 
they are said to be equal to horses as walkers on the 
road, and when they are no longer wanted for work 
they fatten easily and turn well. 

As milkers, they do not excel, perhaps they may be 
said not to equal, the other breeds, and they have a 
reputation of being decidedly below the average. In 
their native country the general average of a dairy is 
one pound of butter per day during the summer. 

They are bred for beef and for work, and not for the 



46 



THE PATTEESON HEED. 



dairy ; and their yield of milk is small, though of a rich 
quality. I have, however, had occasion to examine 
several animals from the celebrated Patterson herd, 
which would have been remarkable as milkers even 
among good milking stock. They had not, to be sure, 
the beautiful symmetry of form and fineness of bone 
which characterize most of the modern and highly im- 
proved pure-bred North Devons, and had evidently 
been bred for many years with special reference to the 
development of the milking qualities, great care hav- 
ing been taken to use bulls and cows as breeders from 
the best milking stock, rather than of the finest forms. 
The use of bulls distinguished only for symmetry of 
form, and of a race deficient in milk-secreting quali- 
ties, will be sure to deteriorate, instead of improving, 
the stock for the dnirv. 




Ifeiilfeiteggp^- 



On the whole, whatever may be our judgment of this 
breed, the faults of the North Devon cow can hardly 
be overlooked from our present point of view. The 
rotundity of form and compactness of frame, though 
they contribute to her remarkable beauty, constitute an 



YOUATT'S OPINION. — A FAIR TEST. 47 

objection to her as a dairy cow, since it is generally 
thought that the peculiarity of form which disposes an 
animal to take on fat is somewhat incompatible with 
good milking qualities, and hence Youatt says : " For 
the dairy the North Devonsmustbe acknowledged to be 
inferior to several other breeds. The milk is good, and 
yields more than the average proportion of cream and 
butter ; but it is deficient in quantity." He also main- 
tains that its property as a milker could not be im- 
proved without probable or certain detriment to its 
grazing qualities. 

But the fairest test of its fitness for the dairy is to be 
found in the estimation in which distinguished Devon 
breeders themselves have held it in this respect. A 
scale of points of excellence in this breed was estab- 
lished, some time ago, by the best judges in England ; 
and it has since been adopted, with but slight changes, in 
this country. These judges, naturally prejudiced in 
favor of the breed, if prejudiced at all, made this scale 
to embrace one hundred points, no animal to be re- 
garded as perfect unless it excelled in all of them. 
Each part of the body was assigned its real value 
in the scale : a faultless head, for instance, was esti- 
mated at four ; a deep, round chest, at fifteen, <fcc. 
If the animal was defective in any part, the number of 
points which represented the value of that part in the 
scale was to be deducted pro rata from the hundred, in 
determining its merits. But in this scale the cow is so 
lightly esteemed for the dairy, that the udder, the size 
and shape of which is of the utmost consequence in 
determining the capacity of the milch cow, is set down 
as worth only one point, while, in the same scale, the 
horns and ears are valued at two points each, and the 
color of the nose, and the expression of the eye, are 
valued at four points each. Supposing, therefore, that 



48 ESTIMATION OF THE UDDER. 

each of these points were valued at one dollar, and a 
perfect North Devon cow was valued at one hundred 
dollars ; then another cow of the same blood, and equal 
to the first in every respect except in her udder, which 
is such as to make it certain that she can never be 
capable of giving milk enough to nourish her calf, must 
be worth, according to the estimation of the best Devon 
breeders, ninety-nine dollars ! It is safe, therefore, to 
say that an animal whose udder and lacteal glands are 
regarded, by those who best know her capacities and 
her merits, as of only one quarter part as much conse- 
quence as the color of her nose, or half as much as the 
shape and size of her horns, cannot be recommended 
for the dairy. The improved North Devon cow may 
be classed, in this respect, with the Hereford, neither 
of which has well-developed milk-vessels — a point of 
the utmost consequence to the practical dairyman. 

The list of pure-bred races in America may be said 
to end here ; for, though other and well-established 
breeds, like the long-horns, the Galloways, the Spanish, 
&c, have, at times, been imported, and have had some 
influence on our American stock, they have not been 
kept distinct to such an extent as to have become the 
prevailing stock of any particular section, so far as I 
am aware, and hence a notice of them properly comes 
in the next chapter. 



CHAPTER II. 

AMERICAN GRADE OR NATIVE CATTLE. — THE PRIN- 
CIPLES OP BREEDING. 

We have dwelt thus far mainly upon the prominent 
breeds of cattle known among us, and especially those 
adapted to the dairy. But a large proportion — by far 
the largest proportion, indeed — cannot be included 
under any of the races alluded to. 

The term breed, properly understood, applies only to 
animals of the same species, possessing, besides the gen- 
eral characteristics of that species, other characteristics 
peculiar to themselves, which they owe to the influence 
of soil, climate, nourishment, and habits of life to which 
they are subjected, and which they transmit with cer- 
tainty to their progeny. The characteristics of certain 
breeds or families are so well marked, that if an individ- 
ual supposed to belong to any one of them were to pro- 
duce an offspring not possessing them, or possessing 
them only in part, with others not belonging to the 
breed, it would be just ground for suspecting a want 
of purity of blood. 

If this definition of the term breed be correct, no 
grade animals, and no animals not possessing fixed pecu- 
liarities or characteristics which they share with all 
other animals of the class of which they are a type, and 
which they are capable of transmitting with certainty 
to their descendants, can be recognized by breeders as 
belonging to any one distinct race, breed, or family. 
5 4 



50 "natives" oe GRADES. — ORIGIN. 

The term " native/' or " scrub," is applied to a vast 
majority of our American cattle, which, though born on 
the soil, and thus in one sense natives, do not constitute 
a breed, race, or family, as properly understood by 
breeders. They do not possess characteristics peculiar 
to them all, which they transmit with any certainty to 
their offspring, either of form, size, color, milking or 
working properties. But, though an animal may be 
made up of a mixture of blood almost to infinity, it does 
not follow that, for specific purposes, it may not, as an 
individual animal, be one of the best of the species. 
And for particular purposes individual animals might 
be selected from among those commonly called natives 
in New England, and scrubs at the West and South, 
equal, and perhaps superior, to any among the races 
produced by the most skilful breeding. There can be 
no impropriety in the use of the term " native," there- 
fore, when it is understood as descriptive of no known 
breed, but only as applied to the common stock of the 
country, which does not constitute a breed. But per- 
haps the whole class of animals commonly called " na- 
tives " would be better described as grades, since they 
are well known to have sprung from a great variety of 
cattle procured in different places and at different times 
on the continent of Europe, in England, and in the 
Spanish West Indies, brought together without any 
regard to fixed principles of breeding, but only from 
individual convenience, and by accident. 

The first importations to this country were doubtless 
those taken to Virginia previous to 1609, though the 
exact date of their arrival is not known. Several cows 
were carried there from the West Indies in 1610, and 
the next year no less than one hundred arrived there 
from abroad. 

The earliest cattle imported into the Plymouth col- 



EARLY IMPORTATIONS. — DUTCH. 51 

ony, and undoubtedly the earliest introduced into New 
England, arrived in 1624. At the division of cattle 
which took place in 1627, three years after/ one or two 
are distinctly described as black, or black and white, 
others as brindle, showing that there was no uniformity 
of color. Soon after this, a large number of cattle were 
brought over from England for the settlers at Salem. 
These importations formed the original stock of Massa- 
chusetts. 

In 1625 the first importation was made into New 
York from Holland, by the Dutch West India Company, 
and the foundation was then laid for an exceedingly 
valuable race of animals, which subsequent importations 
from the same country, as well as from England, have 
greatly improved. 

Dairy farming in some parts of Holland, it may be 
remarked in passing, became a highly important branch 
of industry at a very early date, and a large and 
valuable race of dairy cattle existed there long before 
the efforts of modern breeders began in England. 
The attention of farmers there is at the present time 
devoted especially to the dairy, and the manufacture of 
butter and cheese. They support themselves, to a con- 
siderable extent, upon this branch of farming; and 
hence it is held in the highest respect, and carried to a 
greater degree of exactness and perfection, perhaps, 
than in any other part of the world. They are espe- 
cially particular in the breeding, keeping, and care of 
milch cows, as on them very much of their success 
depends. The principles on which they practise, in 
selecting a cow to breed from, are as follows : She 
should have, they say, considerable size — not less than 
four and a half or five feet girth, with a length of body cor- 
responding ; legs proportionally short ; a finely-formed 
head, with a forehead or face somewhat concave ; clear, 



52 FORM OF THE DUTCH COW. 

large, mild, and sparkling eyes, yet with no expression 
of wildness ; tolerably large and stout ears, standing out 
from the head ; fine, well-curved horns ; a rather short 
than long, thick, broad neck, Avell set against the chest 
and withers ; the front part of the breast and the shoul- 
ders must be broad and fleshy ; the low-hanging dewlap 
must be soft to the touch ; the back and loins must be 
properly projected, somewhat broad, the bones not too 
sharp, but well covered with flesh ; the animal should 
have long, curved ribs, which form a broad breast-bone ; 
the body must be round and deep, but not sunken into 
a hanging belly ; the rump must not be uneven, the hip- 
bones should not stand out too broad and spreading, 
but all the parts should be level and well filled up ; a 
fine tail, set moderately high up and tolerably long, but 
slender, with a thick, bushy tuft of hair at the end, 
hanging down below the hocks ; the legs must be short 
and low, but strong in the bony structure ; the knees 
broad, with flexible joints ; the muscles and sinews must 
be firm and sound, the hoofs broad and flat, and the 
position of the legs natural, not too close and crowded ; 
the hide, covered with fine glossy hair, must be soft and 
mellow to the touch, and set loose upon the body. A 
large, rather long, white and loose udder, extending 
well back, with four long teats, serves also as a char- 
acteristic mark of a good milch cow. Large and prom- 
inent milk-veins must extend from the navel back to 
the udder; the belly of a good milch cow should not be 
too deep and hanging. The color of the North Dutch 
cattle is mostly variegated. Cows with only one color 
are no favorites. Eed or black variegated, gray and 
blue variegated, roan, spotted and white variegated 
cows, are especially liked. 

The annexed cut gives a correct idea of the cow most 
esteemed in Holland ; the type of the race so noted for 



THE DENMARKS, 



53 



the production of milk, and of the excellent round 
Dutch cheeses. 

In 1627, cattle were brought from Sweden to the set- 
tlements on the Delaware by the Swedish West India 
Company. In 1631, 1632, and 1633, several importa- 




tions were made into New Hampshire by Capt. John 
Mason, who, with Gorges, procured the patent of large 
tracts of land in the vicinity of Piscataqua River, and 
immediately formed settlements there. The object of 
Mason was to carry on the manufacture of potash. 
For this purpose he employed the Danes ; and it was in 
his voyages to and from Denmark that he procured 
many Danish cattle and horses, which were subse- 
quently diffused over that whole region, and large num- 
bers of which were driven to the vicinity of Boston and 
sold. These facts are authenticated by original doc- 
uments and depositions now on file in the office of the 
Secretary of State of New Hampshire. The Danish cat- 
tle are there described as large and coarse, of a yellow 
color ; and it is supposed that they were procured by 
5* 



54 WOEKING AND MILKING QUALITIES. 

Mason as being best capable of enduring the severity of 
the climate and the hardships to which they were to be 
subjected. However this may have been, they very 
soon spread among the colonists of the Massachusetts 
Bay, and have undoubtedly left their marks on the 
stock of New England and the Middle States, which 
exist to some extent even to the present day, mixed in 
with an infinite multitude of crosses with the D ev- 
ens, the Dutch cattle already alluded to, the black cattle 
of Spain and Wales, and the long-horn and the short- 
horn, most of which crosses were accidental, or due to 
local circumstances or individual convenience. Many 
of these cattle, the descendants of such crosses, are of 
a very high order of merit, but to what particular cross 
it is due it is impossible to say. They make generally 
hardy, strong, and docile oxen, easily broken to the 
yoke and quick to work, with a fair tendency to fatten 
when well fed ; while the cows, though often ill-shaped, 
are sometimes remarkably good milkers, especially as 
regards the quantity they give. 

I have very often heard the best judges of stock say 
that if they desired to select a dairy of cows for milk 
for sale, they would go around and select cows com- 
monly called native, rather than resort to pure-bred ani- 
mals of any of the established breeds, and that they be- 
lieved they should find such a dairy the most profitable. 

In color, the natives, made up as already indicated, 
are exceedingly various. The old Denrnarks, which to 
a considerable extent laid the foundation of the stock 
of Maine and New Hampshire, were light yellow. The 
Dutch of New York and the Middle States were black 
and white ; the Spanish and Welsh were generally 
black ; the Devons, which are supposed to have laid the 
foundation of the stock of some of the states, were red. 
Crosses of the Denmark with the Spanish and Welsh 



WANT OF UNIFORMITY. 55 

naturally made a dark brindle. Crosses of the Denmark 
and Devon often made a lighter or yellowish brindle, 
while the more recent importations of Jerseys and 
short-horns have generally produced a beautiful spotted 
progeny. The deep red has long been a favorite color 
in New England ; but the prejudice in its favor is fast 
giving way to more variegated colors. 

But, though we have already an exceedingly valua- 
ble foundation for improvement, no one will pretend to 
deny that our cattle, as a whole, are susceptible of it in 
many respects. They possess neither the size, the sym- 
metry, nor the early maturity, of the short-horns ; they 
do not, as a general thing, possess the fineness of bone, 
the beauty of form and color, nor the activity, of 
the Devons or the Herefords ; they do not possess 
that uniform richness of milk, united with generous 
quantity, of the Ayrshires, nor the surpassing richness 
of milk of the Jerseys : but, above all, they do not pos- 
sess the power of transmitting the many good qualities 
which they often have to their offspring, which is a 
characteristic of all well-established breeds. 

Equally certain is it, in the opinion of many good 
judges, that the dairy stock of New England has not 
been improved in its intrinsic good qualities during the 
last thirty or forty years. Cows of the very highest 
order as milkers were as frequently met with, they say, 
in 1825, as at the present time. Any increased product 
of our dairies they ascribe to improved care and feed- 
ing, rather than to improvement in the dairy qualities 
of the stock. 

This may not be true of some other sections of the 
country, where the dairy has been a more special 
object of pursuit, and where the custom of raising the 
best male calves of the neighborhood, or those that 
came from the best dairy cows, and then of using only 



56 MILKING BY THE MOU'. — TREATMENT. 

the best-formed bulls, lias long prevailed. In this way- 
some progress has, doubtless, been made. 

There is an old adage among the dairy farmers of 
Ayrshire, that " The cow gives her milk by the mou'," 
which was slightly varied from an old German proverb, 
that " The cow milks only through the throat" It is 
fortunate, indeed, that wiser and more humane ideas 
prevail with regard to the care of stock of all kinds ; 
for it is well known that the treatment the stock of 
the country received for the first two centuries after 
its settlement was often barbarous and cruel in the 
extreme, and that thousands perished, in the early his- 
tory of the colonies, from exposure and starvation. 
Even within my own distinct recollection, it was 
thought, for miles around my native place, that cows 
and young stock should remain out of doors exposed 
to the cold winter days, to " toughen ; " and that, too, 
by men who styled themselves "practical" farmers. 

Mr. Henry Colman truly asserted, in 1841, that the 
general treatment of cows in New England would not 
be an inapt subject of presentment by a grand jury. 
There were, at that time, it is true, many honorable 
exceptions ; but the assertion was strictly correct so 
far as it applied to the section of which I then had a 
personal knowledge. Judging from the anxiety mani- 
fested by those who enter superior milch cows for the 
premiums offered by agricultural societies to show that 
they have had nothing, or next to nothing, to eat, it is evi- 
dent that the false ideas with regard to the feeding and 
treatment of this animal have not yet wholly disap- 
peared. But, if little improvement has been made in 
our dairy stock except that produced by more liberal 
feeding, it simply shows that our efforts have not been 
made in the right direction. 

The raising of cattle has now become a source of 



GEEAT QUESTIONS. — ECONOMY. 57 

profit in many sections to a greater extent, at least, 
than formerly, and it becomes a matter of great practi- 
cal importance to our farmers to take the proper steps 
to improve them. Indeed, the questions, what is the 
best breed, and what are the best crosses, and how 
shall I improve my stock, are now almost daily asked ; 
and their practical solution would add many thousand 
dollars to the aggregate wealth of the farmers of the 
country, if they would all study their own interests. 
The time is gradually passing away when the intelli- 
gent practical farmer will be willing to put his cows 
to any mere " runt " of a bull, simply because his ser- 
vice may be had for twenty-five cents ; for, even if the 
progeny is to go to the butcher, the calf sired by a 
pure-bred bull, particularly of a race distinguished for 
fineness of bone, symmetry of form, and early maturity, 
will bring a much higher price at the same age than the 
calf sired by a scrub. Blood has a money value, which 
will, sooner or later, be generally appreciated. The 
first and most important object of the farmer is to 
get the greatest money-return for his labor and his 
produce; and it is for his interest to obtain an animal — 
a calf, for instance — that will yield the largest profit on 
the outlay. If a calf, for which the original outlay was 
five dollars, will bring at the same age, and on the same 
keep, more real net profit than another, the original out- 
lay for which was but twenty-five cents, it is certainly 
for the farmer's interest to pay the larger original out- 
lay, and have the superior animal. Setting all fancy 
aside, it is merely a question of dollars and cents ; but 
one thing is certain, and that is, that the farmer cannot 
afford to keep poor stock. It eats as much, and requires 
nearly the same amount of care and attention, as stock 
of the best quality; while it is equally certain that stock 
of ever so good a quality, whether grade, "native," or 



58 HOW TO IMPROVE. — DIFFICULTIES. 

thorough-bred, will be sure to deteriorate and sink to 
the level of poor stock, by neglect and want of proper 
attention. 

How, then, are we to improve our stock ? Not, surely, 
by that indiscriminate crossing, with a total disregard to 
all well-established principles, which has thus far marked 
our efforts generally with foreign stock, and which is 
one prominent reason why so little improvement has 
been made in our dairies ; nor by leaving all the results 
to chance, when, by a careful and judicious selection, they 
may be within our own control. Two modes of improve- 
ment seem to suggest themselves to the mind of the 
breeder, either of which, apparently, promises good 
results. The first is, to select from among our native 
cattle the most perfect animals not known or suspected 
to be related to any of the well-established breeds, and 
to use them as breeders. This is a mode of improve- 
ment simple enough, if adopted and carried on with 
animals of any known breed ; and, indeed, it is the only 
mode of improvement which preserves the purity of 
blood; but, to do it successfully, requires great expe- 
rience, a good and sure eye for stock, a mind free from 
prejudice, and indefatigable patience and perseverance. 
It is absolutely necessary, also, to pay special attention 
to the calves thus produced; to furnish them at all times, 
summer and winter, with an abundant supply of nutri- 
tious food, and to regulate it according to their growth. 
Few men are to be found willing to undertake the 
herculean task of building up a new breed in this way 
from grade stock. An objection meets us at the very 
outset, which is that it would require a long series of 
years to arrive at any satisfactory results, from the fact 
that no two animals, made up, as our " native " cattle 
are, of such a variety of elements and crosses, could 
be found sufficiently alike to produce their kind. The 



SECOND METHOD. — CHANCE ANIMALS. 59 

principle that like produces like may be perfectly true, 
and in the well-known breeds it is not difficult to find 
two animals that will be sure to transmit their own 
characteristics to their offspring ; but, with two animals 
which cannot be classed with any breed, the defects of 
an ill-bred ancestry will be liable to appear through sev- 
eral generations, and thus thwart and disappoint the 
expectations of the breeder. The objection of time, and 
expense, and disappointment, attending this method, 
should have no weight, if there were no more speedy 
method of accomplishing equally desirable results. 

The second mode is somewhat more feasible ; and 
that is, to select animals from races already improved 
and well-nigh perfected, to cross with our cattle, using 
none but good specimens of pure-bred males, and select- 
ing, if our object is to improve stock for the dairy, only 
such as belong to a race distinguished for dairy qual- 
ities; or, if resort is had to other breeds less remarkable 
for such qualities, such only as are descended from large 
and generous milkers. And here it may be remarked 
that these qualities do not belong to any one breed ex- 
clusively, though, as they depend mainly on structure 
and temperament, which are hereditary to a considerable 
extent, they are themselves transmissible. In almost 
every breed we can find individual good milkers which 
greatly surpass the average of the cows of the same 
race or family, and from such many suppose that good 
crosses may be expected. How often do we see farm- 
ers raising the calves of their best milking-cows simply 
because they are the best cows, without regard to the 
qualities of the bull, or to the progenitors of either 
parent ; and how often are they disappointed, at the end 
of three or four years of labor and expense ! Now, 
though a cow of a bad milking family, or of a breed not 
at all distinguished for dairy qualities, may turn out to 



GO EXCEPTIONAL QUALITIES. 

be an excellent milker, and all else that may be desirable 
in a cqw, yet these qualities in her are accidental. They 
are not supposed to be transmissible with anything like 
the certainty which exists where they are the fixed 
and constant characteristics of the family. She is an 
exception to the rule of her race. A good calf from 
her, though not, of course, an impossibility, would be 
very much the result of chance. The resort to any 
but a distinguished breed of milkers cannot, therefore, 
be recommended, nor can we expect to improve our 
dairies by it. A disregard of this important matter has 
led to endless disappointment, and has done much to 
raise up unjust prejudices against the use of all im- 
proved stock on our native cows. As if we could 
expect nature to go out of her regular course to give 
us a good animal, when we have violated her laws ! 

The offspring of these crosses will be grades ; but 
grades are often better for the practical purposes of 
the farmer than pure-bred animals. The skill of the 
breeder is especially manifest in the selection of animals 
to breed from, since both parents undoubtedly have a 
great influence in transmitting the milking qualities of the 
race. But this method of improvement requires less 
exact and critical knowledge than the first, from the fact 
that it is easier to appreciate the good points of an ani- 
mal already perfected, or greatly improved, than to dis- 
cover them in animals which it is our desire to improve, 
and which are inferior in form, possessing only the ele- 
ments of a better stock. It has also an immense advan- 
tage, since results may be far more rapidly attained, and 
improvements effected which, by the first method, — that 
of creating or building up a race from the so-called 
natives, by judicious selections, — would be looked for 
in vain in the ordinary life of man. All grades are pro- 
duced by this second method ; but all grades are not 



SPECIAL OBJECTS. — GOOD POINTS. 61 

equally good, nor equally well adapted to meet the 
farmer's wants. It is desirable to know, then, what, 
on the whole, are the best and most profitable to the 
practical farmer. 

We want cattle for distinct purposes, as for milk, 
beef, or labor. In a large majority of cases, — espe- 
cially in the dairy districts, comprising the Middle and 
Eastern States, at least, — the farmer cares more for 
the milking qualities of his cows, especially for the 
quantity they give, than for their fitness for grazing, or 
aptness to fatten. These latter points become more 
important in the Western and some of the Southern 
States, where far greater attention is paid to breeding 
and to feeding, and where comparatively little attention 
is given to the productions of the dairy. A stock of 
cattle that might suit one farmer might be wholly 
unsuited to another ; and in each particular case the 
breeder should have some special object in view, and 
select his animals with reference to it. But there 
are some general principles that apply to breeding 
everywhere, and which, in many cases, are not well 
understood. 

It would not be desirable, even if it were possible, by 
crossing, to breed out all the general characteristics of 
many of our native cattle. They have many valuable 
qualities adapted to our climate and soil, and to the 
geological structure of the country ; and these should 
be preserved, while Ave improve the points in which 
many of them are deficient, such as a want of precocity 
and aptitude to fatten, where it is an object to attain 
this quality, coarseness of bone, and lack of symmetry, 
which is often apparent, especially when the form of 
the animal does not indicate a near relation to some of 
the established breeds. 

It is a well-known fact that, in crossing, the produce 
6 



62 INFLUENCE OF MALE AND FEMALE. 

most frequently takes after the male parent, especially, 
it is thought, in exterior form, in its organs of locomo- 
tion, such as the bones, the muscles, &c. Particularly 
is this the case when the male belongs to an old and 
well-established breed, and the female belongs to no 
known breed, and has no strongly-marked and fixed 
points. Put a Galloway bull, for instance, to a native 
cow, and the calf will, as a general rule, be hornless. 
Put a ram without horns to ewes with horns, and most 
of the lambs will be destitute of horns ; that is, they 
take the characteristics of the father rather than the 
dam ; and this rule holds good generally in breeding, 
though, like all other rules, it has, of course, its excep- 
tions. Hence, if this position be correct, the first 
principle which the good sense of the farmer would 
dictate would be to select a bull from a breed most 
noted for the qualities he wishes to obtain in their 
greatest perfection, and especially if the cow is defi- 
cient in those qualities. A bull, for instance, of fine 
bone, and other good points in perfection, will make 
up for the deficiency of some of these points in the 
cow. 

On the other hand, say the advocates of this doctrine, 
in the physiology of breeding the internal structure 
of the offspring, the organs of secretion, the mucous 
membranes, the respiratory organs, &c, are imparted 
chiefly by the dam. Hence it has sometimes been 
found that by taking a cow remarkable for milking 
properties, though deficient in many other points, as in 
the coarseness of bone and in early maturity, and put- 
ting to her a bull remarkable for symmetry of form and 
fineness of bone, the offspring has been superior to the 
cow in beauty of form and proportions, and has still 
retained the milking qualities of the dam. This prin- 
ciple, as already intimated, is questioned by some, who 



PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING. 63 

say that the milking qualities, as well as the external 
form, &c, are transmitted through the male offspring. 

Mr. James Dickson, an experienced breeder and 
drover, who views the subject from his own standpoint, 
says : " A great part of the art of breeding lies in the 
principle of judicious crossing ; for it is only by attend- 
ing properly to this that success is to be attained, and 
animals produced that shall yield the greatest amount 
of profit for the food they consume. All eminent 
breeders know full well that ill-bred animals are un- 
profitable both to the breeder and feeder. To carry 
out the system of crossing judiciously, certain breeds 
of cattle, sheep, pigs, <fcc, must be kept pure of their 
kind — males especially; indeed, as a general rule, no 
animal possessing spurious blood, or admixture with 
other breeds, should be used. The produce in almost 
all cases assimilates to the male parent ; and I should 
say that in crossing the use of any males not pure-bred 
is injudicious, and ought to be avoided." 

If, therefore, a cross is effected with satisfactory results, 
it should be continued by resorting to pure-bred bulls, 
and not by the use of any grade bulls thus obtained ; 
for, though a grade bull may be a very fine animal, it 
has been found that he does not transmit his good 
qualities with anything like the certainty of a pure- 
bred one. The more desirable qualities are united in 
the bull, the better ; but the special reason for the use 
of a pure-bred male in crossing is not so much that the 
particular individual selected has these qualities most 
perfectly developed in himself, as that they are hered- 
itary in the breed to which he belongs. The moment 
the line is crossed, and the pedigree broken, uncer- 
tainty commences. Although the form of the grade 
bull may, in individual cases, be even superior to that 
of his pure-bred sire, yet there is less likelihood of his 



64 guenon's method. — MARKS of a milker. 

transmitting the qualities for which his breed is most 
noted ; and when it is considered that during his life 
he may scatter his progeny over a considerable section 
of country, and thus affect the cattle of his whole 
neighborhood, attention to this becomes a matter of 
no small public importance. 

This principle, so far as its application to breeding 
for the shambles is concerned, seems to me to be sound, 
and fully established by long experience and practice. 
Perhaps it is equally so, also, in breeding for the 
dairy. But it may be well to consider whether there 
are not other rational modes of judgment in the selec- 
tion of animals for breeding with this specific object 
in view. 

There is a difference of opinion with regard to the 
practical value of the system of classification and judg- 
ment of milch cows discovered and developed by 
Guenon: some being inclined to ridicule it, as absurd ; 
others to adopt it implicitly, and follow it out in all 
its details ; and others still — and among this class I gen- 
erally find a very large number of the most sensible 
practical judges of stock — to admit that in the main it 
is correct, though they discredit the practicability of 
carrying it so far, and so minutely into detail, as its 
author did. 

It may be remarked, at the outset, that the fact that 
the best of the signs of a great and good milker 
adopted by Guenon are generally found united with the 
best forms and marks almost universally admitted and 
practised upon by good judges, gives, at least, some 
plausibility to the system, while the importance of it, 
if it be correct, is sufficient to demand a careful exam- 
ination. Every good judge of a milch cow, for instance, 
wants to see in her a small, fine head, with short and 
yellowish horns ; a soft, delicate, and close coat of hair ; 



THE MILK-MIRROR. — EXPLANATION. 65 

a skin soft and flexible over the rump ; broad, well- 
spread ribs, covered with a loose skin of medium thick- 
ness ; a broad chest ; a long, slender tail ; straight 
hind legs ; a large, regularly-formed udder, covered with 
short, close, silky hair ; four teats of equal size and 
length, set wide apart; large, projecting lacteal veins, 
which run along under the belly from the udder tow- 
ards the fore legs, forming a fork at the end, and 
finally losing themselves in a round cavity ; and when 
these points, or any considerable number of them, are 
found united in a cow, she would be pronounced a 
good milker. An animal in which these signs are 
found would rarely fail of having a good " milk-mirror," 
or escutcheon; on which Guenon, after many years of 
careful observation and experiment, came to lay par- 
ticular stress ; and on the basis of which he built up a 
system or theory so complicated as to be of little prac- 
tical value compared with what it might have been had 
he seen fit to simplify it so as to bring it within the 
easy comprehension of the farmer. As one means of 
forming a judgment of the milking qualities, however, 
it must be regarded as very important, since it is un- 
questionably sustained by facts in a very large majority 
of cases. 

The milk-mirror, or escutcheon, is formed by the hair 
above the udder, extending upwards between the 
thighs, growing in an opposite direction from that of 
other parts of the body. In well-formed mirrors, found 
only in cows which have the arteries which supply the 
milky glands large and fully developed, it ordinarily be- 
gins between the four teats in the middle, and ascends 
to the vulva, and sometimes even higher, the hair grow- 
ing upwards. The direction of the hair is subordinate 
to that of the arteries ; for the relation existing between 
the direction of the hair above the udder and the 
6* 5 



66 COEEESPONDENCE OF THE MIEEOES. 

activity of the milky glands is apparent on a careful 
examination of all the cases. When the lower part 
of the mirror is large and broad, with the hair grow- 
ing from below upAvards, and extending well out on the 
thighs, it indicates that the arteries which supply the 
milky glands, and which are situated just behind it, 
are large and capable of conveying much blood, and 
of giving, great activity to the' functions of secretion. 

Now, in the bull, the arteries which correspond to 
the mammary or lacteal arteries of the cow are not 
so fully developed ; and the escutcheons are smaller, 
shorter, and narrower. Guenon applied the same name, 
milk-mirror, to these marks in the bull ; and the natural 
inference was, that there should exist a correspondence 
or similarity in the mirror of the bull and the cow which 
are coupled for the purpose of producing an offspring 
fit for the dairy, — that the mirror in the bull should be 
of the same class, or of a better class than that of the cow. 

It is confidently asserted by the advocates of Gue- 
non's method, and with much show of reason, that 
the very large proportion of cows of bad or indifferent 
milking qualities, compared with the good, is owing to 
the mistakes in selecting bulls without reference to the 
proper marks or points. As to the transmission of the 
milk-mirror, it has been found in many cases that bulls 
sprung from cows with good mirrors had smaller and 
more heart-shaped mirrors, spreading out pretty broad 
upon the thighs. Pabst, a successful German breeder, 
says that he has used such bulls for three years, and 
that the milk-mirrors were transmitted in the majority 
of the male progeny, and in nearly every case very 
large and beautiful mirrors were given to the heifer- 
calves. A son of the bull with which he began was 
serving at the time of which he speaks, having a mir- 
ror more highly developed than his sire, and the 



TRANSMISSION OP MILK-MIRROR. 67 

first calves of his get had also very large milk-mir- 
rors. The female offspring of the first bull of good milk- 
mirror promised first rate, though they had not then 
come in. His inference is, that in breeding from cows 
noted as milkers regard should be had to the form 
of the mirror on the bull, and the chance of his 
transmitting it. If any credit is due to this inge- 
nious method, it may be laid down, as a principle in 
the selection of a bull to get dairy stock, that the one 
possessing the largest and best-developed milk-mirror 
is the best for the purpose, and will be most likely to 
get milkers of large quantity and continued flow. This 
method will be more fully developed in the chapter on 
the Selection of Milch Cows. 

But, however careful we may be to select good 
milkers, and to breed from them with the hope of im- 
provement, it is by no means easy to select such as are 
capable of transmitting their qualities to their off- 
spring. This is rendered still more difficult by the 
fact that there is no known mark to indicate it, and we 
are left to use our own judgment ; for, in the case of 
bulls, we are often obliged to give them up before their 
progeny have arrived at an age to show their qualities 
by actual trial. We are thrown back, therefore, upon 
their external marks. But, as M. Magne, a very sensible 
French writer, justly observes in his admirable little 
work (CJioix des Vetches Latieres, p. 86, Paris, 1857), 
the fixed characteristics which have existed in races 
for several generations will be transmitted with most 
certainty. Hence the importance, h.e says, of selecting 
milch cows from good breeds and good families, and 
especially, in breeding stock, of selecting carefully both 
male and female. The male designed to get dairy stock 
ought to possess the structure which, in the cow, indi- 
cates the greatest activity of the mammary glands, as 



68 CHOICE OF THE BULL. 

fineness of form, mellowness of skin, large hind quarters, 
large and well-developed veins and escutcheon. 

A cow of a race or family not noted as milkers may 
chance to be an excellent milker, and this is enough, 
if we do not desire to breed from her ; but she would 
not transmit her exceptional qualities like a cow of 
which these qualities were the fixed characteristics, 
constant and transmissible in the breed. These con- 
siderations apply also, as already said, in the choice of 
a bull. The attention of practical men has been so 
much directed to the best points of good cows, of late 
years, that it becomes necessary to study to propagate 
these, if the breeder desires to find buyers for his stock. 
The buyer judges more from external signs than from 
the intrinsic qualities of the cow, with which he may not 
be acquainted. 

To explain the variations in the transmission of 
milking qualities, we should bear in mind that these 
qualities are not found in wild cows, and that they are 
developed only when man can, by a particular course of 
treatment, as by the act of milking, the separation of 
the sexes, etc., cause certain natural powers to act with 
greater strength than others ; that they incline to dis- 
appear as soon as these powers, the nature of the soil, 
the peculiarities of climate, the properties of plants, 
and the temperament of the cows, are permitted to act 
according to the original plan of creation ; so that the 
variations which we consider as sports of nature are 
incontestible proofs of the uniformity of her works. 

It is only by observing animals carefully, by noting 
accurately their good qualities and their faults, by 
watching the circumstances in which individuals are 
produced, raised, and kept, that we can account for 
what seems to us a sport or caprice of nature. We can 
then tell, first, how' the same bull and cow have pro- 



PRINCIPLES. OF BREEDING. 69 

duced three calves with different properties ; and, 
secondly, trace out the rules which we are to follow, to 
be almost uniformly successful in obtaining stock of the 
best quality. 

Experience shows that the qualities which are trans- 
mitted with most certainty depend on the most import- 
ant organs of life ; and so, in the forms of the viscera 
and the skeleton, variations are rare, not only in breeds 
of the same species, but in different species of the same 
genera. 

Moreover, in cases where the transmission of proper- 
ties is so uncertain as to seem the result of caprice in 
nature, these properties are formed by superficial 
organs, — by the skin, the horns, the state of the hair, 
etc. 

But it is in qualities which are, in a measure, arti- 
ficial, qualities produced by domestication, and often 
more injurious than useful to the health of animals, that 
variations most commonly occur. These change not 
only with the breed of one species, but with the dif- 
ferent individuals of the same breed, of the same hall- 
breed, and often of the same family. 

Bearing these elementary principles of natural his- 
tory and physiology in mind, we shall comprehend how 
cows and bulls well marked in regard to escutcheons 
have produced stock which did not resemble them. M. 
Lefebvre Sainte Marie asserts that the influence of the 
escutcheons is very feeble in the act of reproduction. 

In this view, the escutcheon is almost nothing in 
itself. It depends on the state of the hair, on one of 
the most fleeting of peculiarities, on that which is least 
hereditary in animals. It has no value as a mark of 
good getters of stock, unless it is supported by marks 
superior to it from their stability, — a larger skeleton, 
double loins, a wide rump, highly-developed blood- 



70 RELATIVE SIZE OF MALE AND FEMALE. 

vessels, — unless it is united with a spacious chest, 
round ribs, large lungs, and a strong constitution. 

The more complete the correspondence between 
these marks, the more the milking quality is connected 
with the general condition of the animal, the greater 
the chances of transmission ; and when, with a view to 
breeding, we shall choose only animals having the two- 
fold character of general vigor of constitution and 
activity of the mammary system, and place the progeny 
under favorable circumstances, the qualities will rarely 
prove defective. Thus far the conclusions of Magne. ■ 

Another well-known fact in natural history is, that 
the size of animals depends very much upon the fer- 
tility of the region they inhabit. Where food is abun- 
dant and nutritious, they increase in size in proportion 
to the quantity and quality ; and this size, under the 
same circumstances, will run through generations, unless 
interrupted by artificial means. So, if the food is 
more difficult to obtain, and the pastures are short, the 
pliancy of the animal organization is such that it 
naturally becomes adapted to it, and the animal is of 
smaller size ; and hence Mr. Cline observes that " the 
general mistake in crossing has arisen from an attempt 
to increase the size of a native race of animals, being a 
fruitless effort to counteract the laws of nature." Mr. 
Cline also says, in his treatise " On the Form of Ani- 
mals : " " Experience has proved that crossing has only 
succeeded in an eminent degree in those instances in 
which the females were larger than the usual propor- 
tion of females to males ; and that it has generally failed 
when the males were disproportionally large. When 
the male is much larger than the female, the offspring- 
is generally of an imperfect form , if the female be 
proportionally larger than the male, the offspring is 
generally of an improved form. For instance, if a 



OPINIONS DIFFER. 71 

well-formed large ram be put to ewes proportionally 
smaller, the lambs will not be so well shaped as their 
parents ; but, if a small ram be put to larger ewes, the 
lambs will be of an improved form." " The improve- 
ment depends on the principle that the power of the 
female to supply her offspring with nourishment is in 
proportion to her size, and to the power of nourishing 
herself from the excellence of her constitution ; as 
larger animals eat more, the larger female may afford 
most nourishment to her young.' 7 

This should, I am inclined to think, be regarded as 
another principle of breeding, — that, when improvement 
in form is desired, the size of the female selected 
should be proportionally larger than the male ; though 
Lord Spencer, a successful breeder, strongly contested 
it, and Mr. Dickson, an excellent judge of stock, advised 
the attempt to build up a new breed by selecting some 
Zetland cows, a very diminutive breed of Scotch cattle, 
of good symmetry, points, and handling, and a high-bred 
West Highland bull to put to them. " The produce 
would probably be,' 7 says he, " a neat, handsome little 
animal, of a medium size, between the two breeds. The 
shaggy hide, long horns, symmetry, and fine points, of. 
the West Highlanders, would be imparted to this cross, 
which would not only be a good feeder and very hardy, 
but the beef of superior quality. The great point 
would, of course, be the proper selection of breeding ani- 
mals. The next step towards improving this would be 
the crossing of these crosses with a pure Hereford bull, 
which would improve the size, and impart still finer 
points, more substance, with greater aptitude to fatten. 
By combining these favorite breeds, the produce would, 
in all probability, be very superior, not only attaining 
to good weights, but feeding well, and arriving at 
maturity at an early age. The breeder must not be 



72 THE OAKES COW. 

satisfied and rest here, but go a point further, and 
cross the heifers of the third cross with a short-horn 
bull." These successive steps imply the use of a bull 
of larger breed, though not necessarily, perhaps, pro- 
portionally larger than the cow, in any individual case. 

This, it will be perceived, is a case of breeding with 
less reference to the milking or dairy qualities than the 
grazing. Great milkers are found of all shapes, and 
the chief object of improving their form is to improve 
their feeding qualities, or, in other words, to unite, as 
far as possible, the somewhat incompatible properties 
of grazing and milking. Graceful, well-rounded, and 
compact forms, which constitute beauty in the eyes of 
the grazier, as well as in the estimation of those not 
accustomed to consider the intrinsic qualities of an 
animal, or not capable of appreciating them in a milch 
cow, will very rarely be found united, to any consider- 
able extent, with active mammary glands or milk vessels. 
The best milkers often look coarse and flabby; for, 
even if their bony structure is good and symmetrical, 
they will appear, especially when in milk, to have 
large, raw bones and sharp points, particularly if they 
are largely developed in the hind quarters, wdiich is 
most frequently the case, as is strikingly seen in the 
form of the Oakes cow, a native animal, the most cele- 
brated of her time, in Massachusetts, and winner of the 
first premium at the State Fair of 1816. 

She yielded in that year no less than four hundred 
and sixty-seven and a quarter pounds of butter from 
May 15th to December 20th, at which time she was 
giving over eight quarts of milk, beer measure, a day. 
The weight of her milk in the height of the season, 
in June, was but forty-four and a half pounds ; not so 
great as that of some cows of the present day, on far 
less feed in proportion to their size. Many cows can 



HANDSOME IS THAT HANDSOME DOES. 



73 



be named in New England, at the present time, whose 
yield, under the most favorable circumstances, exceeds 
fifty pounds a day, and some, whose yield will be fifty- 
five pounds, on less feed than the Oakes cow had. 




Fig. 14. Oakes Cow. 

The flesh on the hind quarters of most large milkers 
bears little proportion to the bone ; the hips protrude, 
the pelvis is broad, the legs far apart, giving great 
space for the receptacle of large milk-vessels ; whilst 
great flow of blood to the milky glands, incident to this 
peculiar structure, keeps them in more constant and 
greater activity than any other organs, so that the 
muscles develop less than they otherwise would, 
remain slender, and leave the buttocks and thighs 
small and narrow. Such animals will seldom acquire 
the reputation of being beautiful in form, and if they 
are not decidedly ugly, the owner may console himself 
with the adage that " handsome is that handsome does.'' 

But, though it is to the influence of the male that we 
are chiefly to look for improvements in the form, size, 
7 



74 CEOSSES MOST DESIKABLE. 

muscular development, and general appearance, of our 
stock, and for transmitting their milking qualities, to a 
considerable extent, the influence of the female is no 
less important; and undoubtedly the safest course to 
pursue, to obtain improved animals, is to select the 
best-formed animals, on both sides, from the greatest 
milking families. 

With regard to the particular breeds to select for 
crossing with our natives, opinions will naturally differ 
widely. Those who are favored with luxuriant pastures 
and abundance of winter feed will have no objection 
to large-sized animals, and will naturally wish to obtain 
or possess grade short-horns. There is no breed in 
the world to which it is more desirable to resort, under 
such circumstances, particularly where improvement in 
form, early maturity, and general symmetry, are sought, 
in union with other qualities. It is well known that 
some families of short-horns have been bred for the 
pail, while most others have been bred chiefly for 
beef. If resort is had to this breed, therefore, great 
care and caution should be observed to select bulls 
from the milking families only ; and, unless this is done, 
we shall run the risk of losing the milking qualities of 
our stock, for which the improvement in form and 
early maturity can be little compensation, when breed- 
ing for the dairy. 

It is a remarkable and significant fact that the large 
dairies of London are nearly filled with the short-horns, 
or short-horn and Yorkshire grades ; and the fact that 
this breed is selected in such circumstances for the 
production of milk to supply the milk-market speaks 
volumes in favor of this cross. It is found that grade 
short-horns, after yielding extraordinary quantities of 
milk, during which they very naturally present the 
most ungainly appearance, will, when dried off and fed, 



THE LONDON DAIRIES. 75 

take on flesh very rapidly, and yield large weights of 
beef. This is one prominent reason for keeping them ; 
and another is, that they occupy less space than would 
be required to produce the same quantity of milk from 
smaller animals, which might give even more milk per 
cow in proportion to size and food consumed. 

The cross of the well-bred short-horn and the native 
or Dutch cows of the dairy districts of New York is 
very highly esteemed ; and six hundred pounds of 
cheese a year is no uncommon yield for such grades in 
Herkimer and adjacent counties. 

The Ayrshires have been tried in the London dairies, 
but it was found that they were too difficult to obtain 
an sufficient numbers, and at sufficiently low prices ; 
and that where quantity was the chief object, as in a 
milk-dairy, and space a matter of great importance, 
they could not compete with the short-horn and the 
Yorkshire cows, and crosses between these races. 

It often happens, particularly in milk-dairies, that the 
farmer is so situated as not to desire to raise his 
calves, but disposes of them at the highest price to 
the butcher. He will obtain the greatest weight and 
the highest quality of veal from the use of a pure- 
bred short-horn or Hereford bull. But, on poorer 
pastures, where there is too little feed to bring young 
stock to their most perfect development, the pure-bred 
short-horns and high grades of the short-horn are 
thought, by some, to be too large, and consequently 
unprofitable. How far this objection to them might be 
obviated by stall feeding or soiling, and the use of roots, 
is for each one to consider who has these facilities at 
command. For most parts of New England they are 
unquestionably too large to be well maintained. 

As to the Herefords, they cannot be recommended 
for the dairy, either as pure bloods or grades ; but in 



76 HEREFORD AND DEVON GRADES. 

grazing districts, devoted to raising beef or working 
cattle, they are highly and justly prized. 

The same may be said of the North Devons. The 
pure-bred Devon bull, put to a good, young native 
cow, produces a beautiful and valuable cross, either 
for the yoke or the shambles ; and if the coav is a 
remarkably good milker to begin with, and the bull 
from a milking family, there would be no fear of mate- 
rially lessening the quantity in the offspring, while its 
form, and other qualities, would probably be greatly 
improved. 

Grade Devons are very much sought for working 
oxen, and high prices are readily obtained for them, 
while as beef cattle they are by some highly esteemed. 
But, unfortunately, very few herds are to be found 
where attention has been paid to breeding for milk; and 
great milkers are the exception, and very rarely met 
with among the pure breeds. In their native country 
they are bred almost exclusively for bee£ The estima- 
tion in which they are held as dairy stock, even by 
Devon breeders themselves, both in England and in this 
country, has been shown in the low value placed upon 
the development of the udder in the establishment of 
the scale of points spoken of on a preceding page ; from 
which it is evident that, in judging of them, it was not 
contemplated that their milking qualities should be 
taken into consideration. As cows for the dairy, there- 
fore, they possess no advantages over our common 
stock, and we should hardly look for improvement from 
them in this respect. 

The Jerseys, as already seen, are justly celebrated for 
the richness of their milk and the butter made from it. 
In this respect no pure breed can excel them. They 
are, therefore, as a dairy breed, worthy of attention. 
On farms where the making of butter is an object of 



JEESEY AND AYRSHIRE GRADES. 77 

pursuit and profit, an infusion of Jersey blood will be 
likely to secure richness of milk, and high-flavored, 
delicious butter. Many good judges of stock recom- 
mend this cross for dairy purposes; and the chief objec- 
tion that can be urged against them is that they are, as 
a breed, very deficient in quantity, which in a milk- 
dairy would be fatal to them, while, at the same time, 
they have little to recommend them, as the Devons 
have, on the score of beautiful forms and symmetrical 
proportions. Put upon a large and roomy native cow, 
remarkable as a milker, the produce would be likely 
to be a very superior animal. 

The Ayrshires, as already seen, have been bred with 
reference both to quality and quantity of milk, and the 
grades are usually of a very high order. The best 
milkers I have ever known, in proportion to their size 
and food, have been grade Ayrshires ; and this is also 
the experience of many who keep dairies for the manu- 
facture of butter and cheese, as well as for the sale of 
milk. A cross obtained from an Ayrshire bull of good 
size and a pure-bred short-horn cow will produce a 
stock which it will be hard to beat at the pail, espe- 
cially if the cow belong to any of the families of short- 
horns which have been bred with reference to their 
milking qualities, as some of them have. I have taken 
great pains to inquire of dairymen as to the breed or 
grade of their best cows, and what, they consider the 
best cows for milk for their purposes ; and the answer 
has almost invariably been the Ayrshire and the native. 
The Ayrshires have by no means been a failure in this 
country, although I do not think that, as a general 
thing, we have been so fortunate hitherto as to import 
the best specimens of them. If any improvement has 
been made in our dairy stock apart from that effected 
by a higher and more liberal course of feeding, it has 
7* 



78 GALLOWAYS. — STJFFOLKS. 

come, iu a great measure, from the Ayrshires ; and, 
had the facilities been offered to cross our common 
stock with them to greater extent, there can be little 
doubt that the improvement would have been greater 
and more perceptible. 

It should, however, be said, that in sections where 
the feed is naturally luxuriant, and adapted to grazing 
large animals, some families of the short-horns crossed 
with our natives have produced an equally good stock 
for cheese and milk dairies. 

Before -closing this part of the subject, it is proper to 
observe that among the earlier importations were sev- 
eral varieties of hornless cattle, and that they have been 
kept distinct in some sections, or where they have been 
crossed with the common stock there has been a tend- 
ency to produce hornless grades. These are not unfre- 
quently known under the name of buffalo cattle. They 
were, in many cases, supposed to have belonged to the 
Galloway breed ; or, which is more likely, to the Suffolk 
dun, a variety of the Galloway, and a far better milking- 
stock than the Galloways, from which it sprung. The 
polled, or hornless cattle, vary in color and qualities, 
but they are usually very good milkers when well 
kept, and many of them fatten well, and attain good 
weights. 

The Hungarian cattle have also been imported, to 
some extent, into different parts of the country, and 
have been crossed upon the natives with some success. 
Many other strains of blood from different breeds have 
contributed to build up the common stock of the coun- 
try of the present day ; and there can be no question 
that its appearance and value have been largely im- 
proved during the last quarter of a century, nor that 
improvements are still in progress which will lead to 
satisfactory results in future. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE SELECTION OF MILCH COWS. 

We have now reviewed the prominent races of cattle 
found in American dairy herds, and devoted some space 
to an examination of the principles to be followed in 
the breeding of dairy stock ; and this has involved, to 
some extent, the choice of breeds, and the selection of 
individual animals, with special reference, however, to 
transmitting and improving their milking properties. 
But the selection of cows for the dairy is of such im- 
portance as to demand the most careful consideration. 

The objects of a dairy, are three-fold: the production of 
milk for sale, mainly confined to milk-dairies, and to small- 
er farms in the vicinity of large towns, where a mixed 
husbandry is followed ; the production of butter, chiefly 
confined to farms at a distance from cities and large 
towns, which furnish a ready market for milk ; and the 
fabrication of cheese, carried on under circumstances 
somewhat similar to the manufacture of butter, and some- 
times united with it as an object of pursuit, on the farm. 

These different objects should, therefore, be kept in 
view, in the selection of cows ; for animals which would 
be most profitable for the milk-dairy might be very 
unprofitable in the butter-dairy — a fact of almost daily 
experience. The productiveness of the cow does not 
depend on her breed so much as upon her food and 
management, her temperament and health, and the activ- 
ity and energy of the organs of digestion and secretion. 



80 JUDGING OF STOCK. 

These latter, it is true, depending upon the structure of 
the chest and other parts, are far better developed, and 
more permanently fixed, in some races than in others, 
and are derived more or less by descent, and capable 
of being transmitted. The breed, therefore, cannot be 
wholly disregarded, inasmuch as it is an element in 
forming a judgment of the merits of a milch cow. 

Cows, of whatever breed, having the best developed 
external marks of good milkers, will very rarely disap- 
point the practised eye or the skilful hand ; while cows 
of breeds in highest repute for the dairy, and which do 
not show these marks, will as certainly fail to answer 
the expectations of those who select them simply for 
the breed. Those who would obtain skill in judging of 
these marks, and by means of them be able to estimate 
the value of a cow, need not expect to attain this end 
without long study and practical observation, for which 
some men have far greater talent than others ; being 
able, while examining a particular mark or favorite 
characteristic of a milker, to take in all others at a 
glance, and so, while appearing to form their opinion 
from one or two important points, actually to estimate 
the Avhole development of the animal, while others 
must examine in detail each point by itself. Long prac- 
tice is required, therefore, to become an adept in the 
judgment and selection of milch cows ; but still much 
assistance may, unquestionably, be derived by careful 
attention to the external signs which have been long 
observed to indicate the milking qualities. 

It is important, in the first place, to be able to judge 
of the age of the cow. Few farmers wish to pur- 
chase a cow for the dairy after she has passed her 
prime, which will ordinarily be at the age of nine or 
ten years, varying, of course, according to care, feed- 
ing, &c, in the earlier part of her life. 



RINGS ON THE HORNS. 



81 



The most usual mode of forming an estimate of the 
age of cattle is by an examination of the horn. At 
three years old, as a general rule, the horns are per- 
fectly smooth; after this, a ring appears near the root, 
and annually afterward a neAv one is formed ; so that, 
by adding two years to the first ring, the age is calcu- 
lated. This is a very uncertain mode of judging. The 
rings are distinct only in the cow ; and it is well known 
that, if a heifer goes to bull when she is two years old, 
or a little before or after that time, a change takes place 
in the horn, and the first ring appears ; so that a real 
three-year-old would carry the mark of a four-year-old. 

The rings on the horns of a bull are either not seen 
until five, or they cannot be traced at all ; while in the 
ox they do not appear till he is five years old, and then 
are often very indistinct. In addition to this, it is by no 
means an uncommon practice to file the horns, so as to 
make them smooth, and to give the animal the appear- 
ance of being much younger than it really is. This is, 
therefore, an exceedingly fallacious guide, and we can- 
not rely on it without being subject to imposition. 




Fig. 15. Teeth at birth. Fig. 16. Second week. 

The surest indication of the age is given by the teeth. 

6 



82 



THE TEETH AT VAKIOUS AGES. 



The calf, at birth, will usually have two incisor or front 
teeth : in some cases just appearing through the gums ; 
in others, fully set, varying as the cow falls short or 
exceeds her regular time of calving. If she overruns 
several days, the teeth will have set and attained con- 
siderable size, as appears in Fig. 15. During the sec- 
ond week, a tooth will usually be added on each side, 
and the mouth will generally appear as in Fig. 16 ; and, 
before the end of the third week, the animal will gener- 
ally have six incisor teeth, as shown in Fig. 17 ; and 
in a week from that time the full number of incisors 
will have appeared, as seen in Fig. 18. 




IMir. 17. Third week. 



Fig. 18. Month. 



These teeth are temporary, and are often called milk- 
teeth. Their edge is very sharp ; and, as the animal 
begins to live upon more solid food, this edge becomes 
worn, showing the bony part of the tooth beneath, and 
indicates, with considerable precision, the length of 
time they have been used. The centre or oldest teeth 
show the marks of age first, and often become some- 
what worn before the corner teeth appear. At eight 
weeks, the four inner teeth are nearly as sharp as be- 



WEARING AWAY. 



83 



fore. They appear worn not so much on the outer 
edge or line of the tooth, as inside this line ; but, after 
this, the edge begins gradually to lose its sharpness, 
and to present a more flattened surface ; while the next 




Fig. 19- Five to eight months. 



Fig. 20. Ten months. 



outer teeth wear down like the four central ones ; and 
at three months this wearing off is very apparent, till 
at four months all the incisor teeth appear worn, but 




Fig. 21. Twelve months. Fig. 22. Fifteen months. 

the inner ones the most. Now the teeth begin slowly 
to diminish in size by a kind of contraction, as well as 



84 



THE PERMANENT INCISORS. 



wearing down, and the distance apart becomes more and 
more apparent. 

From the fifth to the eighth month the inner teeth 
will usually appear as in Pig. 19 ; and at ten months 
this change shows more clearly, as in Pig. 20, and the 
spaces between them begin to show very plainly, till 
at a year old they ordinarily present the appearance 
of Fig. 21 ; and at the age of fifteen months that shown 
in Fig. 22, where the corner teeth are not more than 
half the original size, and the centre ones still smaller. 

The permanent teeth are now rapidly growing, and 
preparing to take the place of the milk-teeth, which 
are gradually absorbed till they disappear, or are pushed 
out to give place to the two permanent central incisors, 
which, at a year and a half, will generally present the 
appearance indicated in Fig. 23, which shows the inter- 
nal structure of the lower jaw at this time, with the 
cells of the teeth, the two central ones protruding into 
the mouth, the two next pushing up, but not quite 




Fig. 24. Two years past 



Fig. 23. Eighteen months. 

grown to the surface, with the third pair just percep- 
tible. These changes require time ; and at two years 
past the jaw will usually appear as in Fig. 24, where 



THE UNCERTAIN PERIOD. 



85 



four of the permanent central incisors are seen. After 
this the other milk-teeth decrease rapidly, but are slow 
to disappear ; and at three years old the third pair of 
permanent teeth are but formed, as in Fig. 25 ; and at 
four years the last pair of incisors will be up, as in 
Fig. 26 ; but the outside ones are not yet fully grown. 




o4L 

Fig. 25. Three years past- 



Fig. 26. Four years past. 



and the beast can hardly be said to be full-mouthed till 
the age of five years. But before this age, or at the age 
of four years, the two inner pairs of permanent teeth 
are beginning to wear at the edges, as shown in Fig. 
26, while at five years old the whole set becomes some- 
what worn down at the top, and on the two centre ones 
a darker line appears in the middle, along a line of 
harder bone, as appears in Fig. 27. 

Now will come a year or two, and sometimes three, 
when the teeth do not so clearly indicate the exact age, 
and the judgment must be guided by the extent to 
which the dark middle lines are worn. This will de- 
pend somewhat upon the exposure and feeding of the 
animal ; but at seven years these lines extend over 
all the teeth. At eight years another change begins, 



86 



SOUNDNESS OF CONSTITUTION. 



which cannot be mistaken. A kind of absorption begins 
with the two central incisors, slow, at first, but percep- 
tible, and these two teeth become smaller than the rest, 
while the dark lines are worn into one in all but the 




Fig. 27. Five years past. 



Fig. 28. Ten years past. 



corner teeth, till at ten years four of the central incisors 
have become smaller in size, with a smaller and fainter 
mark, as seen in Fig. 28. At eleven the six inner teeth 
are smaller than the corner ones ; and at twelve all 
become smaller than they were, while the dark lines 
are nearly gone, except in the corner teeth, and the 
inner edge is worn to the gum. 

After being satisfied with regard to the age of a cow, 
we should examine her with reference to her soundness 
of constitution. A good constitution is indicated by 
large lungs, which are found in a deep, broad, and promi- 
nent chest, broad and well-spread ribs, a respiration some- 
what slow and regular, a good appetite, and if in milk a 
strong inclination to drink, which a large secretion of 
milk almost invariably stimulates. In such cows the 
digestive organs are active and energetic, and they make 
an abundance of good blood, which in turn stimulates 



UNION TO BE BELIED ON. 87 

the activity of the nervous system, and furnishes the 
milky glands with the means of abundant secretion. 
Such cows, when dry, readily take on fat. When activ- 
ity of the milk-glands is found united with close ribs, 
small and feeble lungs, and a slow appetite, often 
attended by great thirst, the cow will generally possess 
only a weak and feeble constitution ; and if the milk is 
plentiful, it will generally be of bad quality, while the 
animal, if she does not die of diseased lungs, will not 
take on fat readily when dry and fed. 

Other external marks of great milkers have already 
been given in part. They should be found united, as 
far as possible ; for, though no one of them, however 
well developed, can be taken as a sure indication of 
extraordinary milking powers, several of them united 
may, as a general rule, be implicitly relied on. 

In order to have no superfluous flesh, the cow should 
have a small, clean, and rather long head, tapering tow- 
ards the muzzle. A cow with a large, coarse head will 
seldom fatten readily, or give a large quantity of milk. 
A coarse head increases the proportion of weight of the 
least valuable parts, while it is a sure indication that the 
whole bony structure is too heavy. The mouth should 
be large and broad ; the eye bright and sparkling, but 
of a peculiar placidness of expression, with no indica- 
tion of wildness, but rather a mild and feminine look. 
These points will indicate gentleness of disposition. 
Such cows seem to like to be milked, are fond of 
being caressed, and often return caresses. The horns 
should be small, short, tapering, yellowish, and glisten- 
ing. The neck should be small, thin, and tapering tow- 
ards the head, but thickening when it approaches the 
shoulder ; the dewlaps small. The fore quarters should 
be rather small when compared with the hind quarters. 
The form of the barrel will be large, and each rib 



88 GOOD SIGNS. — THE MILK-VEINS. 

should project further than the preceding one, up to the 
loins. She should be well formed across the hips and 
in the rump. 

The spine or back-bone should be straight and long, 
rather loosely hung, or open along the middle part, the 
result of the distance between the dorsal vertebra?, 
which sometimes causes a slight depression, or sway 
back. By some good judges this mark is regarded as 
of great importance, especially when the bones of the 
hind quarters are also rather loosely put together, leav- 
ing the rump of great width, and the pelvis large, and 
the organs and milk-vessels lodged in the cavities 
largely developed. The skin over the rump should be 
loose and flexible. This point is of great importance ; 
and as, when the cow is in low condition, or very poor, 
it will appear somewhat harder and closer than it other- 
wise would, some practice and close observation are 
required to judge well of this mark. The skin, indeed, 
all over the body, should be soft and mellow to the 
touch, with soft and glossy hair. The tail, if thick at 
the setting on, should taper and be fine below. 

But the udder is of special importance. It should be 
large in proportion to the size of the animal, and the skin 
thin, with soft, loose folds extending well back, capable 
of great distension when filled, but shrinking to a small 
compass when entirely empty. It must be free from 
lumps in every part, and provided with four teats set 
well apart, and of medium size. Nor are the milk-veins 
less important to be carefully observed. The principal 
ones under the belly should be large and prominent, 
and extend forward to the navel, losing themselves, ap- 
parently, in the very best milkers, in a large cavity in 
the flesh, into which the end of the finger can be insert- 
ed ; but, when the cow is not in full milk, the milk- 
vein, at other times very prominent, is not so distinctly 



THE NETWORK OF VEINS. 89 

traced ; and hence, to judge of its size when the cow is 
dry, or nearly so, this vein may be pressed near its end, 
or at its entrance into the body, when it will immedi- 
ately fill up to its full size. This vein does not carry 
the milk to the udder, as some suppose, but is the chan- 
nel by which the blood returns ; and its contents consist 
of the refuse of the secretion, or what has not been 
taken up in forming milk. There are, also, veins in the 
udder, and the perineum, or the space above the udder, 
and between that and the buttocks, which it is of spe- 
cial importance to observe. These veins should be 
largely developed, and irregular or knotted, especially 
those of the udder. They may be seen in Figs. 29, 
30, 31, &c. They are largest in great milkers. 

The knotted veins of the perineum, extending from 
above downwards in a winding line, are not readily 
seen in young heifers, and are very difficult to find in 
poor cows, or cows of only a medium quality. They 
are easily found in very good milkers, and, if not 
at first apparent, they are made so by pressing upon 
them at the base of the perineum, when they swell up, 
and send the blood back towards the vulva. They form 
a kind of thick network under the skin of the perineum, 
raising it up somewhat, in some cases near the vulva, 
in others lower clown and nearer to the udder. It is 
important to look for these veins, as they often form a 
very important guide, and by some they would be con- 
sidered as furnishing the surest indications of the milk- 
ing qualities of the cow. Their full development almost 
always indicates an abundant secretion of milk ; but 
they are far better developed after the cow has had two 
or three calves, when two or three years' milking has 
given full activity to the milky glands, and attracted a 
large flow of blood. The larger and more prominent 
these veins, the better. It is needless to say that in 



90 guenon's method. 

observing them some regard should be had to the con- 
dition of the cow, the thickness of skin and fat by which 
they may be surrounded, and the general activity and 
food of the animal. Food calculated to stimulate the 
greatest flow of milk will naturally increase these veins, 
and give them more than usual prominence. 

We come now to an examination of the system of 
G-uenon, whose discovery, whatever may be said of it, 
has proved of immense importance to agriculture. Gue- 
non was a man of remarkable practical sagacity, a close 
observer of stock, and an excellent judge. This gave 
him a great advantage in securing the respect of those 
with whom he came in contact, and assisted him vastly 
in introducing his ideas to the knowledge of intelligent 
men. Born in France, in the vicinity of Bordeaux, in 
humble circumstances, he early had the care of cows, 
and spent his whole life with them. His discovery, for 
which a gold medal was awarded by the agricultural 
society of Bordeaux, on the 4th of July, 1837, consisted 
in the connection between the milking qualities of the 
cow and certain external marks on the udder, and on 
the space above it, called the perineum, extending to 
the buttocks. To these marks he gave the name of 
milk-mirror, or escutcheon, which consists in certain 
perceptible spots rising up from the udder in different 
directions, forms, and sizes, on which the hair grows 
upwards, whilst the hair on other parts of the body 
grows downwards. To these spots various names have 
been given, according to their size and position, as tufts, 
fringes, figures or escutcheons, which last is the most 
common term used. The reduction of these marks into 
a system, explaining the value of particular forms and 
sizes of the milk-mirror, belongs, so far as I know, ex- 
clusively to Guenon, though the connection of the milk- 
ing qualities of the cow and the size of the ovals with 



PEOVING TOO MUCH. 91 

downward-growing hair on the back part of the udder 
above the teats was observed and known in Massachu- 
setts more than forty years ago, and some of the old 
farmers of that day were accustomed to say that when 
these spots were large and well developed the cow 
would be a good milker. 

Guenon divided the milk-mirror into eight classes, 
and each class into eight orders, making in all no less 
than sixty-four divisions, which he afterwards increased 
by sub-divisions, making the whole system complicated 
in the extreme, especially as he professed to be able to 
judge with accuracy, by means of the milk-mirror, not 
only of the exact quantity a cow would give, but also 
the quality of the milk and the length of time it would 
continue. He tried to prove too much, and the conse- 
quence was that he was himself frequently at fault, 
notwithstanding his excellent knowledge of other gene- 
ral characteristics of milch cows, while others, of less 
knowledge, and far more liable to err in judgment, were 
inclined to view the whole system with distrust. 

My own attention was called to Guenon's method of 
judging of cows some eight or ten years ago, and since 
that time I have examined many hundreds, with a 
view to ascertain the correctness of its main features, 
inquiring, at the same time, after the views and opinions 
of the best breeders and judges of stock, with regard 
to their experience and judgment of its merits ; and the 
result of my observation has been, that cows with the 
most perfectly-developed milk-mirrors, or escutcheons, 
are, with rare exceptions, the best milkers of their 
breed, and that cows with small and slightly-developed 
mirrors are, in the majority of cases, bad milkers. 

I say the best milkers of their breed ; for I do not 
believe that precisely the same sized and formed milk- 
mirrors on a Hereford or a Devon, and an Ayrshire or a 



92 REGARD TO THE BREED. — EXCEPTIONS. 

native, will indicate anything like the same or equal 
milking properties. It will not do, in my opinion, to 
disregard the general and well-known characteristics of 
the breed, and rely wholly on the milk-mirror. But I 
think it may be safely said that, as a general rule, the 
best-marked Hereford will turn out to be the best 
milker among the Herefords, all of which are poor 
milkers; the best-marked Devon the best among the 
Devons, and the best-marked Ayrshire the best among 
the Ayrshires ; that is, it will not do to compare two 
animals of entirely distinct breeds, by the milk-mirrors 
alone, without regard to the fixed habits and education, 
so to speak, of the breed or family to which they 
belong. 

There are cows with very small mirrors, which are, 
nevertheless, very fair in the yield of milk ; and among 
those with middling quality of mirrors instances of 
rather more than ordinary milkers often occur, while at 
the same time it is true that now and then cases occur 
where the very best marked and developed mirrors are 
found on very poor milkers. I once owned a cow of 
most extraordinary marks, the milk-mirror extending 
out broadly upon the thighs, and rising broad and very 
distinctly marked to the buttocks, giving every indica- 
tion, to good judges, of being as great a milker as ever 
stood over a pail ; and yet, when she calved, the calf 
was feeble and half nourished, and she actually gave too 
little to feed it. But I believe that this exception, and 
most others which appear to be direct contradictions, 
could be clearly explained by the fact, of which I was 
not aware at the time, that she had been largely over- 
fed before she came into my possession. I mention 
this case simply to show how impossible it is to esti- 
mate with mathematical accuracy either the quantity, 
the qualit}^, or the duration of the milk, since it is 



APPARENT CONTRADICTION. 93 

affected by so many chance circumstances, which cannot 
always be known or estimated by even the most skilful 
judge; as the food, the treatment, the temperament, 
accidental diseases, inflammation of the udder, premature 
calving, the climate and season, the manner in which 
she has been milked, and a thousand other things which 
interrupt or influence the flow of milk, without materi- 
ally changing the size or the shape of the milk-mirror. 
M. Magne, who appears to me to have simplified and 
explained the system of Guenon, and to have freed it 
from many of the useless details with which it is en- 
cumbered in the original work, while he has preserved 
all that is of practical value, very justly observes that 
we often see cows, equally well formed, with precisely 
the same milk-mirror, and kept in the same circum- 
stances, yet giving neither equal quantities nor similar 
qualities of milk. Nor could it be otherwise ; for, 
assuming a particular tuft on two cows to be of equal 
value at birth, it could not be the same in the course 
of years, since innumerable circumstances occur to 
change the activity of the milky glands without chang- 
ing the form or size of the tuft ; or, in other words, the 
action of the organs depends not merely on their size 
and form, but, to a great extent, on the general con- 
dition of each individual. 

To give a more distinct idea of the milk-mirror, it will 
be necess'ary to refer to the figures, and the explana- 
tions of these I translate literally from the little work 
already referred to, the Clioix des Vaches Latieres, or, 
the Choice of Milch Cows. 

The different forms of milk-mirrors are represented 
by the shaded part of figures 29, 30, 31, etc. ; but it is 
necessary to premise that upon the cows themselves 
they are always partly concealed by the thighs, the 
udder, and the folds of the skin, which are not shown, 



94 VAKIATION IN SIZE. 

and so they are not always so uniform in nature as they 
appear in the cuts. 

Their size varies as the skin is more or less folded or 
stretched, while we have supposed in the figures that 
the skin is uniform or free from folds, but not stretched 
out. In order to understand the differences which the 
milk-mirrors present in respect to size, according to the 
state of the skin, the milk-mirror is shown in two ways 
in Figs. 52 and 53. In Fig. 53 the proportions are 
preserved the same as in the other mirrors represented, 
but an effort is made to represent the folds of the skin ; 
while in Fig. 52 the mirror is just as it would have 
been had the folds of the udder been smoothed out, and 
the skin between the udder and the thighs stretched 
out ; or, in other words, as if the skin, covered with up- 
growing hair, had been fully extended. 

This mirror, but little developed, just as shown in 
Fig. 53, was observed on a very large Norman cow. 

It is usually very easy to distinguish the milk-mirrors 
by the upward direction of the hair which forms them. 
They are sometimes marked by a line of bristly hair 
growing in the opposite direction, which surrounds 
them, forming a sort of outline by the upward and 
downward growing hair. Yet, when the hair is very 
fine and short, mixed with longer hairs, and the skin 
much folded, and the udder voluminous and pressed by 
the thighs, it is necessary, in order to distinguish the 
part enclosed between the udder and the legs, and 
examine the full size of the mirrors, to observe them 
attentively, and to place the legs wide apart, and to 
smooth out the skin, in order to avoid the folds. 

The mirrors may also be observed by holding the 
back of the hand against the perineum, and drawing it 
from v above downwards, when the nails rubbing against 



GUENON EXPLAINED. 95 

the up-growing hair, make the parts covered by it very 
perceptible. 

As the hair of the milk-mirror has not the same direc- 
tion as the hair which surrounds it, it may often be dis- 
tinguished by a difference in the shade reflected by it. 
It is then sufficient to place it properly to the light to 
see the difference in shade, and to make out the part 
covered by the upward-growing hair. Most frequently, 
however, the hair of the milk-mirror is thin and fine, 
and the color of the skin can easily be seen. If we 
trust alone to the eye, we shall often be deceived. 
Thus, in Figs. 52 and 53, the shaded part, which 
extends from the vulva to the mirror e, represents a 
strip of hair of a brownish tint, which covered the peri- 
neum, and which might easily have been taken for a 
part of the milk-mirror. 

In some countries cattle-dealers shave the back part 
of the cows. Just after this operation the mirrors can 
neither be seen nor felt ; but this inconvenience ceases 
in a few days. It may be added that the shaving, 
designed, as the dealers say, to beautify the cow, is 
generally intended simply to destroy the milk-mirror, 
and to deprive buyers of one means of judging of the 
milking qualities of the cows. 

It is not necessary to add that the cows most care- 
fully shaven are those which are badly marked, and that 
it is prudent to take it for granted that cows so shorn 
are bad milkers. 

Milk-mirrors vary in position, extent, and the figure 
they represent. They may be divided, according to 
their position, into mirrors or escutcheons, properly so 
called, or into lower and upper tufts, or escutcheons. The 
latter are very small in comparison with the former, and 
are situated in close proximity to the vulva, as seen at S 
in Figs. 38, 39, 40, etc. They are very common on cows 



96 GUENON EXPLAINED. 

of 'bad milking races, but are very rarely seen on the 
best milch cows. They consist of one or two ovals, or 
small bands of up-growing hair, and serve to indicate 
the continuance of the flow of milk. The period is 
short in proportion as the tufts are large. They must 
not be confounded with the escutcheon proper, which 
is often extended up to the vulva. They are separated 
from it by bands of hair, more or less large, as in Figs. 
40, 42, &c. 

The mirrors shown in Figs. 38 to 42, and 29 to 35, 
&c, exist, more or less developed, on nearly all cows, 
and indicate the quantity of milk, which will be in pro- 
portion to their size. Sometimes they form only a 
small plate on the posterior surface of the udder, as in 
Fig. 49. In other cases they cover the udder, the inner 
surface of the legs and the thighs, the perineum, and 
a part of the buttocks, as in Figs. 29, 30, 31, &c. 

Two parts may be distinguished in the lower tufts : 
one situated on the udder, the legs, and the thighs, as at 
M M, Fig. 30 ; and the other on the perineum, extend- 
ing sometimes more or less out upon the thighs, as at 
P P, in the same figure. 

The first part is represented by itself, in Figs. 37 and 
49. We shall call the former mammary, and the latter 
jperinean. The former is sometimes large, extending 
over the milky glands, the thighs, and the legs, as shown 
in Figs. 29 to 37 ; and sometimes circumscribed, or more 
or less checked over with tufts of downward-growing 
hair, as in Figs. 43 to 52. It is sometimes terminated 
towards the upper part of the udder by a horizontal 
line, straight, as in Fig. 37, or angular, as in Fig. 49 ; 
but more frequently it continues without interruption 
over the perineum, and constitutes the perinean part. 

This presents a large band, Fig. 30, straight, as in 
Fig. 43, and bounded on the sides by two parallel lines, 



FORMS OP THE MILK-MIRRQR. 



97 





35J.30. 



uA 



M 

mSfi wWfks 




Fi|.82. 



98 GUENON EXPLAINED. 

as seen in the same figures, or by curved lines, as in Fig. 
34. It sometimes rises scarcely a fourth part up the 
perineum, as in Fig. 38 ; at others, it reaches or passes 
beyond that part, forming a straight band, as in Figs. 
35 and 43, or is folded into squares, as in Figs. 31 and 36, 
or truncated, Fig. 38, or terminated by one or several 
points, Figs. 32, 33, 41, 50.- In some cows this band 
extends as far as the base of the vulva, Figs. 40 and 
48 ; in others, it embraces more or less of the lower 
part of the vulva, Figs. 29, 30, 39, and 47. 

Milk-mirrors are sometimes symmetrical, as in Figs. 
29, 30, 34, 35, 37, and 38 ; sometimes without sym- 
metry, as in Figs. 42, 45, and 50. When there is a great 
difference in the extent of the two halves, it almost 
always happens that the teats on the side where the 
mirror is best developed give, as we shall see, more 
milk than those of the opposite side. We will remark 
here that the left half of the mirror is almost always 
the largest ; and so, when the perinean part is folded 
into a square, it is on this side of the body that it un- 
folds, as in Figs. 31, 36, and 42. Of three thousand cows 
in Denmark, M. Andersen found only a single one whose 
escutcheon varied even a little from this rule. We have 
observed the contrary only in a single case, and that 
was on a bull. The perinean part of the mirror 
formed a band of an inch to an inch and a half in 
breadth, irregular, but situated, in great measure, on 
the right side of the body. Stretching towards the 
upper part of the perineum, it formed a kind of 
square, with a small projecting point on the right, 
Fig. 51. 

The mirrors having a value in proportion to the 
space they occupy, it is of great importance to at- 
tend to all the rows of down-growing hairs, which 
diminish its extent of surface, whether these tufts are 



FORMS OF THE MILK-MIRROR. 



99 







ifl 1 





ft 



Eg. 34 



W 
I'!, 

\.'?.;>7 ' '^- T'V". 




Eg. 36 



Eg. 35. 




Tic . 37 



100 REAL EXTENT OF THE MIRROR. 

in the midst of the mirror. Figs. 45, 46, and 47, or form 
indentations on its edges, as in Figs. 42, 44, 45, 46, 
and 48. 

These indentations, concealed in part by the folds of 
the skin, are sometimes seen with difficulty ; but it is 
important to take them into account, since in a great 
many cows they materially lessen the size of the mir- 
ror. We often find cows whose milk-mirror at first 
sight appears very large, but which are only medium 
milkers ; and it will usually be found that lateral indent- 
ations greatly diminish the surface of up-growing hair. 
Many errors are committed in estimating the value of 
such cows, from a want of attention to the real extent 
of the milk-mirror. 

All the interruptions in the surface of the mirror 
indicate a diminution of the quantity of milk, with the 
exception, however, of small oval or elliptical plates 
which are found in the mirror, on the back part of the 
udders of the best cows, as in Figs. 29, 30, 32, 34, 35, 
36, and 40. These ovals have a peculiar tint, which 
is occasioned by the downward direction of the hair 
which forms them. In the best cows these ovals exist 
with the lower mirrors very well developed, as in Figs. 
29, 30, and 32. 

In fine, we should state that in order to determine 
the extent and significance of a mirror it is necessary 
to consider the state of the perineum as to fat, and of 
the fulness of the udder. In a fat cow, with an in- 
flated udder, the mirror would appear larger than it 
really is; whilst in a lean cow, with a loose and wrinkled 
udder, it appears smaller. Fat will cover faults, a fact 
to be kept in mind in selecting a cow. 

In bulls, Fig. 51, the mirrors present the same pecu- 
liarities as in cows ; but they are less varied in their 
form, and especially much less in size. This will easily 



FORMS OP THE MILK-MIRROR. 1Q1 




9* 



102 MILK-HIEBOES ON CALVES. 

be understood from the explanation of mirrors given 
on a preceding page. 

. In calves the mirrors show the shapes they are after- 
wards to have, only they are more contracted, because 
the parts which they cover are but slightly developed. 
They are easily seen after birth ; but the hair which 
then covers them is long, coarse, and stiff; and when 
this hair falls off, the calf's mirror will resemble that of 
the cow, but be of less size. 

With calves, however, it should be stated, in addition 
to what has already been said, that the milk-mirrors are 
more distinctly recognized on those from cows that are 
well kept, and that they will generally be fully devel- 
oped at two years old. Some changes take place in 
the course of years, but the outlines of the mirror 
appear prominent at the time of advanced pregnancy, 
or, in the case of cows giving milk, at the times when 
the udder is more distended with milk than at others. 

The classification adopted by Magne appears still 
further to simplify the whole method, and to bring it 
within the easy reach and comprehension of every one 
who will examine the figures and the explanations con- 
nected with them. He divides cows, according to the 
quantity they give, into four classes : First, the very 
good ; second, the good ; third, the medium ; and 
fourth, the bad. 

In the first class he places cows both parts of whose 
milk-mirror, the mammary and the perinean, are large, 
continuous, uniform, covering at least a great part of 
the perineum, the udder, the inner surface of the 
thighs, and extending more or less out upon the legs, 
as in Figs. 29 to 33, with no interruptions, or, if any, 
small ones, oval in form, and situated on the posterior 
face of the udder, Figs. 29, 30, and 32. 

Such mirrors are found on most very good cows, 



FOEMS OF THE MILK-MIRROR, 



103 




Fig. 45. 



Tig. 46 



104 FIEST-EATE COWS. 

but may also be found on cows which can scarcely be 
called good, and which should be ranked in the next 
class. But cows, whether having very well-developed 
mirrors or not, may be reckoned as very good, and as 
giving as much milk as is to be expected from their 
size, feed, and the hygienic circumstances in which they 
are kept, if they present the following characteristics : 

Veins of the perineum large, as if swollen, and visible 
on the exterior, as in Figs. 29 — 32, or which can be 
easily made to appear by pressing upon the base of the 
perineum ; veins of the udder large and knotted, milk- 
veins large, often double, equal on both sides, and 
forming zig-zags under the belly. 

To the signs furnished by the veins and by the mir- 
ror may be added also the following marks : A uniform, 
very large and yielding udder, shrinking much in milk- 
ing, and covered with soft skin and fine hair; good 
constitution, full chest, regular appetite, and great pro- 
pensity to drink. Cows rather inclining to be poor than 
fat. Soft, yielding skin, short, fine hair, small head, fine 
horns, bright, sparkling eye, mild expression, feminine 
look, with a fine neck. 

Cows of this first class are very rare. They give, 
even when small in size, from ten to fourteen quarts of 
milk a day, and the largest sized from eighteen to 
twenty-six quarts a day, and even more. Just after 
calving, if arrived at maturity and fed with good, 
wholesome, moist food in sufficient quantity and 
quality, adapted to promote the secretion of milk, 
they can give about a pint of milk for every ten 
ounces of hay, or its equivalent, which they eat. 

They continue in milk for a long period. The best 
never go dry, and may be milked even up to the time 
of calving, giving from eight to twelve quarts of milk 
a day. The Dutch cow, Fig. 54, was giving daily 



FORMS OP THE MILK-MIRROR. 



105 




106 SECOND-RATE COWS. 

twenty-two quarts of milk, a year after calving. But 
even the best cows often fall short of the quantity of 
milk they are able to give, from being fed on food that 
is too dry, or not sufficiently varied, or not rich enough 
in nutritive qualities, or deficient in quantity. 

The second class is that of good coivs ; and to this 
belong the best commonly found in the market and 
among the cow-feeders of cities. 

They have the mammary part of the milk-mirror 
well developed, but the perinean part contracted or 
wholly wanting, as in Figs. 34 and 37 ; or both parts of 
the mirror are moderately developed, or slightly 
indented, as Figs. 35 and 36. Figs. 38, 39, 40, and 41, 
belong also to this class, in the lower part ; but they 
denote cows which, as the upper mirrors, s s s, indi- 
cate, dry up sooner when again in calf. 

These marks, though often seen on many good cows, 
should be considered as certain only when the veins of 
the perineum form, under the skin, a kind of network, 
which, without being very apparent, may be felt by a 
pressure on them ; when the milk-veins on the belly are 
well developed, though less knotted and less prominent 
than in cows of the first class ; in fine, when the udder 
is well developed, and presents veins which are suffi- 
ciently numerous, though not very large. 

It is necessary, then, as in the preceding class, to 
have a mistrust of cows in which the mirror is not 
accompanied by large veins. This remark applies 
especially to cows which have had several calves, and 
are in full milk. They are medium or bad, let the milk- 
mirror be what it may, if the veins of the belly are not 
large, and those of the udder apparent. 

The general characteristics which depend on form 
and constitution combine less than in coavs of the pre- 



A COW OF THE FIRST CLASS. 



107 




Fig. 54. A Good Milch Cow. 



ceding class the marks of good health and excellent 
constitution with, those of a gentle and feminine look. 

Small cows of this class give from seven to ten or 
eleven quarts of milk a day, and the largest from 
thirteen to seventeen quarts. They can be made to 
give three fourths of a pint of milk, just after calving, 



108 THIED CLASS. — BAD COWS. 

for every ten ounces of hay consumed, if well cared for, 
and fed in a manner favorable to the secretion of milk. 

They hold out long in milk when they have no upper 
mirrors or tufts. At seven or eight months in calf, 
they may give from five to eight quarts a day. 

The third class consists of middling cows. When the 
milk-mirror really presents only the lower or mammary 
part slightly developed or indented, and the perinean 
part contracted, narrow, and irregular, as in Figs. 42 
to 47, the cows are middling. The udder is slightly 
developed or hard, and shrinks very little after milking. 
The veins of the perineum are not apparent, and those 
which run along the lower sides of the abdomen are 
small, straight, and sometimes unequal. In this case 
the mirror is not symmetrical, and the cow gives more 
milk on the side where the vein is largest. 

These cows often have large heads, and a thick and 
hard skin. Being ordinarily in good condition, and 
even fat, they are beautiful to look at, and seem to be 
well formed. Many of them are nervous and restive, 
and not easily approached. 

Cows of this class give, according to size, from three 
or four to ten quarts of milk. They very rarely give, 
even in the most favorable circumstances, half a pint 
for every ten ounces of hay which they consume. 

The milk diminishes rapidly, and dries up wholly the 
fourth or fifth month in calf. 

The fourth class is composed of bad coivs. As they 
are ordinarily in good condition, these cows are often the 
most beautiful of the herd and in the markets. They 
have fleshy thighs, thick and hard skin, a large and 
coarse neck and head, and horns large at the base. 

The udder is hard, small, and fleshy, with a skin 
covered with long, rough hair. No veins are to be 
seen either on the perineum or the udder, while those 



ANOTHER CLASSIFICATION. 109 

of the belly are very slightly developed, and the mir- 
rors are ordinarily small, as in Figs. 48, 49, and 50. 

With these characteristics, cows give only a few 
quarts of milk a day, and dry up a short time after 
calving. Some such can scarcely nourish their calves, 
even when they are well cared for and well fed. 

Sickly habits, chronic affections of the digestive 
organs, the chest, the womb, and the lacteal system, 
sometimes greatly affect the milk secretions, and cause 
cows troubled with them to fall from the first or 
second to the third, and sometimes to the fourth class. 

The above classification is very similar to that of 
Pabst, a German farmer of large experience and obser- 
vation of stock, who, with a view to simplify the 
method of Guenon, and render it of greater practical 
value to the farmer, made five divisions or classes, con- 
sisting of, 1st, Very good or extraordinary ; 2d, Good 
or good middling ; 3d, Middling and little below mid- 
dling; 4th, Small; and, 5th, Very bad milkers. 

These classifications, adopted by Magne, Pabst, and 
other good breeders and judges of cows, appear to me 
to be far more simple and satisfactory than the more 
extended and complicated classification of Guenon him- 
self. Without pretending to be able to judge with any 
accuracy of the quantity, the quality, or the duration, 
which any particular size or form of the mirror will 
indicate, they give to Guenon the full credit of his 
important discovery of the escutcheon, or milk-mirror, 
as a new and very valuable element in forming our 
judgment of the milking qualities of a cow ; and simply 
assert, with respect to the duration or continuance of 
the flow of milk, that the mirror that indicates the 
greatest quantity will also indicate the longest dura- 
tion. The mirror forms, in other words, an important 
additional mark or point for distinguishing good milk- 
10 



110 SPECIAL • CASES. 

ers ; and it is safe to lay it down as a rule that, in the 
selection of milch cows, as well as in the choice of 
young animals as breeders, we should, by all means, 
examine and consider the milk-mirror, but not limit or 
confine ourselves exclusively to it, and that other and 
long-known marks should be equally regarded. 

But there are cases where a knowledge and careful 
examination of the form and size of the mirror becomes 
of the greatest importance. It is well known that cer- 
tain signs or marks of great milkers are developed only 
as the capacities of the animal herself are fully and 
completely developed by age. The milk-veins, for 
instance, are never so large and prominent in heifers 
and young cows as in old ones, and the same may be 
said of the udder, and the veins of the udder and per- 
ineum ; all of which it is of great importance to observe 
in the selection of milch cows. Those signs, then, which 
in cows arrived at maturity are almost sufficient in 
themselves to warrant a conclusion as to their merits 
as milkers, are, to a great extent, wanting in younger 
animals, and altogether in calves, of which there is 
often doubt whether they shall be raised ; and here a 
knowledge of the form of the mirror is of immense 
advantage, since it gives, at the outset, and before any 
expense is incurred, a somewhat reliable means of 
judging of the future milking capacities of the animal 
or, if a male, of the probability of his transmitting 
milking qualities to his offspring. 

It will be seen, from an examination of the points of 
a good milch cow, that, though the same marks which 
indicate the greatest milking qualities may not indicate 
any great aptitude to fatten, yet that the signs which 
indicate good fattening qualities are included among 
the signs favorable to the production of milk, such as 
soundness of constitution, indicated by good organs of 



BUYING DAIRY STOCK. Ill 

digestion and respiration, fineness and mellowness of 
the skin and hair, quietness of disposition, which 
inclines the animal to rest and lie down in chewing the 
cud, and other marks which are relied on by graziers 
in selecting animals to fatten. 

In buying dairy stock the farmer generally finds it 
for his interest to select young heifers. They give 
the promise of longer usefulness. But it is often the 
case that older cows are selected with the design of 
using them for the dairy for a limited period, and then 
feeding them for the butcher. In either case, it is ad- 
visable, as a rule, to choose animals in low or medium 
condition. The farmer cannot ordinarily afford to buy 
fat ; it is more properly his business to make it, and to 
have it to sell. Good and well-marked cows in poor 
condition will rapidly gain in flesh and products when 
removed to better pastures and higher keeping, and 
they cost less in the original purchase. 

It is unnecessary to say that regard should be had to 
the quality of the pasturage and keeping which a cow has 
previously had, as compared with that to which she is to 
be subjected. The size of the animal should also be con- 
sidered with reference to the fertility of the pastures 
into which she is to be put. Small or medium-sized 
animals accommodate themselves to ordinary pastures 
far better than large ones. Where a very large cow 
will do well, two small ones will usually do better ; 
while the large animal might fail entirely where two 
small ones would do well. It is better to have the 
whole herd, so far as may be, uniform in size ; for, if 
they vary greatly, some may get more than they need, 
and others will not have enough. This, however, can- 
not always be brought about. 



112 



A GOOD DAIRY COW. 




CHAPTEK IV. 

FEEDING AND MANAGEMENT OP DAIRY COWS. 

No branch of dairy farming can compare in import- 
ance with the management of cows. The highest 
success will depend very much upon it, whatever breed 
be selected, and whatever amount of care and attention 
be given to the points of the animals ; for experience 
will show that very little milk comes out of the bag 
that is not first put into the throat. It is poor econ- 
omy, therefore, to attempt to keep too many cows for 
the amount of feed we have ; for it will generally be 
found that one good cow well bred and well fed will 
yield as much as two ordinary cows kept in the ordi- 
nary way, while a saving is effected both in labor and 
room required, and in the risks on the capital invested. 
If the larger number on poorer feed is urged for the 
sake of the manure, which is the only ground on which 
it can be put, it is sufficient to remark that it is a very 
expensive way of making manure. It is not too much 
to say that a proper regard to profit and economy 
would require many an American farmer to sell off 
nearly half his cows, and to feed the whole of his hay 
and roots hitherto used into the remainder. 

A certain German farmer was visited, one day, by 

some Swiss from over the border, who desired to buy 

of him all the milk of his cows for the purpose of 

making cheese. Not being able to agree upon the 

10* 8 



114 CAUSES AND EFFECTS. 

terms, he finally proposed to let them take the entire 
charge of his cows, and agreed to furnish feed amply 
sufficient, the Swiss assuming the whole care of feeding 
it out, and paying a fixed price by measure for all the 
milk. " I found myself, at once," says he, " under the 
necessity of selling almost half my cows, because the 
Swiss required nearly double the quantity of fodder 
which the cows had previously had, and I was well sat- 
isfied that all the produce I could raise on my farm 
would be far from sufficient to feed in that way the 
number of cows I had kept. I was in despair at find- 
ing them using such a quantity of the best quality of 
feed, though it was according to the strict letter of the 
contract, especially as I knew that I had given my cows 
rather more than the quantity of food recommended by 
men in whom I had perfect confidence. Thus, while 
Thaer names twenty-three pounds of hay, or its equiv- 
alent, as food sufficient for a good-sized cow, I gave mine 
full twenty-seven pounds. But, if the change effected 
in the management of my cows was great, the result 
was still more striking. The quantity of milk kept 
increasing, and it reached the highest point when the 
cows attained the condition of the fat kine of Pharaoh's 
dream. The quantity of milk became double, triple, 
and even quadruple, what it had been before ; so that, 
if I should compare the product with that previously 
obtained, a hundred pounds of hay produced three 
times more milk than it had produced with my old 
mode of feeding. Such results, of course, attracted my 
attention to this branch of my farming. It became a 
matter of pleasure ; and my observations were followed 
up with great care, and during several years I devoted 
a large part of my time to it. I even went so far as to 
procure scales for weighing the food and the animals, in 
order to establish exact data on the most positive basis." 



A farmer's conclusions. 115 

The conclusions to which he arrived were, that an 
animal, to be fully fed and satisfied, requires a quantity 
of food in proportion to its live weight ; that no feed 
could be complete that did not contain a sufficient 
amount of nutritive elements ; hay, for example, being 
more nutritive than straw, and grains than roots. He 
found, too, that the food must possess a bulk sufficient 
to fill up to a certain degree the organs of digestion or 
the stomach ; and that, to receive the full benefit of 
its food, the animal must be wholly satisfied, as, if the 
stomach is not sufficiently distended, the food cannot 
be properly digested, and of course many of the nutri- 
tive principles it contains would not be perfectly assim- 
ilated. An animal regularly fed eats till it is satisfied, 
and no more than is requisite. A part of the nutritive 
elements in hay and other forage-plants is needed to 
keep an animal on its feet, — that is, to keep up its con- 
dition, — and if the nutrition of its food is not sufficient 
for this the weight decreases, and if it is more than 
sufficient the weight increases, or else this excess is 
consumed in the production of milk or in labor. About 
one sixtieth of their live weight in hay, or its equiva- 
lent, will keep horned cattle on their feet ; but, in order 
to be completely nourished, they require about one 
thirtieth in dry substances, and four thirtieths in water, 
or other liquid contained in their food. The excess of 
nutritive food over and above what is required to sus- 
tain life will go in milch cows generally to the produc- 
tion of milk, or to the growth of the foetus, but not in 
all cows to an equal extent ; the tendency to the secre- 
tion of milk being far more developed in some than in 
others. 

With regard to the consumption of food in propor- 
tion to the live weight of the animal, however far it 
may apply as a general principle, it should, I think, 



116 NUTRITIVE ELEMENTS OF FOOD. 

be taken with some qualifications. The proportion is 
probably not uniform as applied to all breeds indiscrim- 
inately, though it may be more so as applied to animals 
of the same breed. Bakewell's idea was that the quan- 
tity of food required depended much on the shape of 
the barrel ; and it is well known that an animal of a 
close, compact, well-rounded barrel will consume less 
than one of an opposite make. 

The variations in the yield of milch cows are caused 
more by the variations in the nutritive elements of their 
food than by a change of the form in which it is given. 
"A cow, kept through the winter on mere straw," says a 
practical writer on this subject, " will cease to give 
milk ; and, when fed in spring on green forage, will give 
a fair quantity of milk. But she owes the cessation 
and restoration of the secretion to respectively the 
diminution and the increase of her nourishment, and 
not at all to the change of form, or of outward sub- 
stance, in which the nourishment is administered. Let 
cows receive through winter nearly as large a propor- 
tion of nutritive matter as is contained in the clover, 
lucerne, and fresh grasses, which they eat in summer, 
and, no matter in what precise substance or mixture 
that matter may be contained, they will yield a winter's 
produce of milk quite as rich in caseine and butyr- 
aoeous ingredients as the summer's produce, and far 
more ample in quantity than almost any dairyman with 
old-fashioned notions would imagine to be possible. 
The great practical error on this subject consists not 
in giving wrong kinds of food, but in not so propor- 
tioning and preparing it as to render an average ration 
of it equally rich in the elements of nutrition, and es- 
pecially in nitrogenous elements, as an average ration 
of the green and succulent food of summer." 

We keep too much stock for the quantity of good 



MOIST FEED.— DAIRYMAN'S MOTTO. 117 

and nutritious food which we have for it ; and the con- 
sequence is cows are, in nine cases out of ten, poorly- 
wintered, and come out in the spring weakened, if not, 
indeed, positively diseased, and a long time is required 
to bring them into a condition to yield a generous 
quantity of milk. 

It is a hard struggle for a cow reduced in flesh and 
in blood to fill up the wasted system with the food 
which would otherwise have gone to the secretion of 
milk ; but, if she is well fed, well housed, well littered, 
and well supplied with pure, fresh water, and with 
roots, or other moist food, and properly treated to the 
luxury of a frequent carding, and constant kindness, 
she comes out ready to commence the manufacture of 
milk under favorable circumstances. 

Keep the cows constantly in good condition, ought, 
therefore, to be the motto of every dairy farmer, posted 
up over the barn-door, and over the stalls, and over the 
milk-room, and repeated to the boys whenever there is 
danger of forgetting it. It is the great secret of suc- 
cess, and the difference between success and failure 
turns upon it. Cows in milk require more food in pro- 
portion to their size and weight than either oxen or 
young cattle. 

In order to keep cows in milk well and economically, 
regularity is next in importance to a full supply of 
wholesome and nutritious food. The healthy animal 
stomach is a very nice chronometer, and it is of the 
utmost importance to observe regular hours in feeding, 
cleaning, and milking. This is a point, also, in which 
very many farmers are at fault — feeding whenever it 
happens to be convenient. The cattle are thus kept in 
a restless condition, constantly expecting food when 
the keeper enters the barn, while, if regular hours are 
strictly adhered to, they know exactly when they are 



118 COUESE OP FEEDING. 

to be fed, and they rest quietly till the time arrives. Go 
into a well-regulated dairy establishment an hour before 
the time of feeding, and scarcely an animal will rise to 
its feet ; while, if it happens to be the hour of feeding, 
the whole herd will be likely to rise and seize their 
food with an avidity and relish not to be mistaken. 

With respect to the exact routine to be pursued, no 
rule could be prescribed which would apply to all cases ; 
and each individual must be governed much by circum- 
stances, both in respect to the particular kinds of feed 
at different seasons of the year, and the system of feed- 
ing. I have found in my own practice, and in the prac- 
tice of the most successful dairymen, that, in order to 
encourage the largest secretion of milk in stalled cows, 
one of the best courses is, to feed in the morning, 
either at the time of milking — which I prefer — or imme- 
diately after, with cut feed, consisting of hay, oats, 
millet, or corn-stalks, mixed with shorts, and Indian, lin- 
seed, or cotton-seed meal, thoroughly moistened with 
water. If in winter, hot or warm water is far better 
than cold. If given at milking-time, the cows will gen- 
erally give down the milk more readily. The stalls and 
mangers ought always to be well cleaned out first. 

Roots and long hay may be given during the day; and 
at the evening milking, or directly after, another gen- 
erous meal of cut feed, well moistened and mixed, 
as in the morning. No very concentrated food, like 
grains alone or oil-cakes, should, it seems to me, be fed 
early in the morning on an empty stomach, though it is 
sanctioned by the practice in the London milk-dairies. 
The processes of digestion go on best when the stom- 
ach is sufficiently distended ; and for this purpose the 
bulk of food is almost as important as the nutritive 
qualities. The flavor of some roots, as cabbages and 
turnips, is more apt to be imparted to the flesh and 



ECONOMY IN WARMTH. 119 

milk when fed on an empty stomach than otherwise. 
After the cows have been milked, and have finished 
their cut feed, they are carded and curried down, in 
well-managed dairies, and then either watered in the 
stall, which in very cold or stormy weather is far pref- 
erable, or turned out to water in the yard. When they 
are out, if they are let out at all, the stables are put in 
order ; and, after tying them up, they are fed with long 
hay, and left to themselves till the time of next feed- 
ing. This may consist of roots, such as cabbages, 
beets, carrots, or turnips, sliced, or of potatoes, a peck, 
or, if the cows are very large, a half-bushel each, and 
cut feed again at the evening milking, as in the morn- 
ing, after which water in the stall, if possible. 

The less cows are exposed to the cold of winter, the 
better. They eat less, thrive better, and give more milk, 
when kept housed all the time, than when exposed to 
the cold. Caird mentions a case where a herd of cows, 
which had been usually supplied from troughs and 
pipes in the stalls, were, on account of an obstruction 
in the pipes, obliged to be turned out twice a day 
to be watered in the yard. The quantity of milk 
instantly decreased, and in three days the falling off 
became very considerable. After the pipes were mended, 
and the cows again watered as before, in their stalls, the 
flow of milk returned. This, however, will be gov- 
erned much by the weather ; for in very mild, warm 
days it may be judicious not only to let them out, but 
to allow them to remain out for a short time, to ex- 
ercise. 

Any one can arrange the hour for the several process- 
es named above, to suit himself; but, when once fixed, 
let it be rigidly and regularly followed. If the regular 
and full feeding be neglected for even a day, the yield 
of milk will immediately decline, and it will be very 



120 EEGULAEITY. — CHANGE. 

difficult to restore it. It may safely be asserted, as the 
result of many trials and long practice, that a larger 
flow of milk follows a complete system of regularity in 
this respect than from a higher feeding where this sys- 
tem is not adhered to. 

One prime object which the dairyman should keep 
constantly in view is, to maintain the animal in a sound 
and healthy condition. Without this, no profit can be 
expected from a milch cow for any considerable length 
of time ; and, with a view to this, there should be an 
occasional change of food. But, in making changes, 
great care is required to supply an equal amount of 
nourishment, or the cow falls off in flesh, and eventu- 
ally in milk. We should therefore bear in mind that 
the food consumed goes not alone to the secretion of 
milk, but also to the growth and maintenance of the 
bony structure, the flesh, the blood, the fat, the skin, 
and the hair, and in exhalations from the body. These 
parts of the body consist of different organic con- 
stituents. Some are rich in nitrogen, as the fibrin of the 
blood, albumen, &c. ; others destitute of it, as fat ; some 
abound in inorganic salts, phosphate of lime, salts of potr 
ash, &c. To explain how the constant waste of these 
substances may be supplied, Dr. Voelcker observes that 
the albumen, gluten, caseine, and other nitrogenized 
principles of food, supply the animal with materials 
required for the formation of muscle and cartilage ; they 
are, therefore, called flesh-forming principles. 

" Fats, or oily matters of the food," says he, " are used 
to lay on fat, or for the purpose of sustaining respiration. 

"Starch, sugar, gum, and a few other non-nitrogenized 
substances, consisting of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, 
supply the carbon given off in respiration, or they are 
used for the production of fat. 

"Phosphates of lime and magnesia in food principally 



FEEDING FOR SPECIAL PURPOSES. 121 

furnish the animal with the materials of which the bony 
skeleton of its body consists. 

"Saline substances — chlorides of sodium and potas- 
sium, sulphate and phosphate of potash and soda, and 
some other mineral matters occurring in food — supply 
the blood, juice of flesh, and various animal juices, with 
the necessary mineral constituents. 

" The healthy state of an animal can thus only be pre- 
served by a mixed food; that is, food which contains all 
the proximate principles just noticed. Starch or sugar 
alone cannot sustain the animal body, because neither of 
them furnishes the materials to build up the fleshy parts 
of the animal. When fed on substances in which an in- 
sufficient quantity of phosphates occurs, the animal will 
become weak, because it does not find any bone-pro- 
ducing principles in its food. Due attention, therefore, 
ought to be paid by the feeder to the selection of food 
which contains all the kinds of matter required, nitro- 
genized as well as non-nitrogenized, and mineral sub- 
stances ; and these should be mixed together in the 
proportion which experience points out as best for the 
different kinds of animals, or the particular purpose for 
which they are kept." 

" On the nutrition of cows for dairy purposes," Dr. 
Voelcker still further observes that "milk may be re- 
garded as a material for the manufacture of butter or 
of cheese ; and, according to the purpose for which the 
milk is intended to be employed, whether for the manu- 
facture of butter or the production of cheese, the cow 
should be differently fed. 

" Butter contains carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and 
no nitrogen. Cheese, on the contrary, is rich in nitro- 
gen. Food which contains much fatty matter, or sub- 
stances which in the animal system are readily con- 
verted into fat, will tend to increase the proportion of 
11 



122 FOR MILK, BUTTER, AND CHEESE. 

cream in milk. On the other hand, the proportion of 
caseine or cheesy matter in milk is increased by the use 
of highly nitrogenized food. Those, therefore, who 
desire much cream, or who produce milk for the manu- 
facture of butter, select food likely to increase the pro- 
portion of butter in the milk. On the contrary, where 
the principal object is the production of milk rich in 
curd,— that is, where cheese is the object of the farmer, 
— clover, peas, and bean-meal, and other plants which 
abound in legumine, — a nitrogenized organic com- 
pound, almost identical in properties and composition 
with caseine, or the substance which forms the curd of 
milk, — will be selected." And so the quality, as well as 
the quantity, of butter in the milk, depends on the kind 
of food consumed, and on the general health of the 
animal. Cows fed on turnips in the stall always pro- 
duce butter inferior to that of cows living upon the 
fresh and aromatic grasses of the pastures. 

Succulent food in which water abounds — the green 
grass of irrigated meadows, green clover, brewers' 
refuse, distillers' refuse, etc. — increases the quantity, 
rather than the quality, of the milk ; and by feeding 
these substances the milk-dairyman studies his own 
interest, and makes thin milk, without diluting it with 
water, though, in the opinion of some, this may be no 
more legitimate than watering the milk. 

But, though the yield of milk may be increased by 
succulent or watery food, it should be given so as not 
to interfere with the health of the cow. 

Food rich in starch, gum, or sugar, which are the 
respiratory elements, an excess of which goes to the 
production of fatty matters, increases the butter in milk. 
Quietness promotes the secretion of fat in animals and 
increases the butter. Cheese will be increased by food 
rich in albumen, such as the leguminous plants. 



SUMMER POOD FOR COWS. 



123 



The most natural, and of course the healthiest food 
for milch cows in summer, is the green grass of the 
pastures; and when these fail from drought, or over- 
stocking, the complement of nourishment may be made 
up with green clover, green oats, barley, millet, or corn- 
fodder, and cabbage-leaves, or other succulent vegeta- 
bles ; and if these are wanting, their place may be 
partly supplied with shorts, Indian-meal, linseed or cot- 
ton-seed meal. Green grass is more nutritious than 
hay, which always loses more or less of its nutritive 
qualities in curing; the amount of the loss depending 
chiefly on the mode of curing, and the length of ex- 
posure to sun and rain. But, apart from this, grass is 
more easily and completely digested than hay, though 
the digestion of hay may be greatly aided by cutting 
and moistening, or steaming ; and by this means it is 
rendered more readily available, and hence far better 
adapted to promote a large secretion of milk — a fact 
too often overlooked by many even intelligent farmers. 

That green grass is better adapted than most other 
kinds of food to promote a large flow of milk, may be 
be seen from the following table, from which it will 
appear that greater attention should be given to the 
proper constituents of food for milch cows. Two 
cows were taken in the experiment. 



Food of two cows. 


Milk in 
five days. 


Butter in 
five days. 


Nitrogen in 

food in 
five days. 


2. Barley and hay, . 

3. Malt and hay, . . . 

4. Barley, molasses, and\ 

hay, .... J 

5. Barley, linseed, and\ 

hay, . . . . j 

6. Beans and hay, . . . 


114 lbs. 

107 

102 

106 

108 
108 


3. 50 lbs. 

3.43 

3.20 

3.44 

3.48 
3.72 


2.321bs. 

3.89 

3.34 

3.82 

4.14 

5.27 



124 AUTUMN POOD FOE COWS. 

Here grass produced the largest flow of milk, but of 
a quality less rich than bean-meal and hay, which pro- 
duced the richest quality ; one hundred and eight 
pounds making more butter than one hundred and four- 
teen pounds of grass-made milk. 

In autumn, the best feed will be the grasses of the 
pastures, so far as they are available, green-corn fod- 
der, cabbage, carrot and turnip leaves, and an addition 
of meal or shorts. Towards the middle of autumn, the 
cows fed in the pastures will require to be housed reg- 
ularly nights, especially in the more northern latitudes, 
and put, in part at least, upon hay. But every farmer 
knows that it is not judicious to feed out the best part 
of his hay when his cattle are first put into the barn, 
and that he should not feed so well in the early part of 
winter that he cannot feed better as it advances. 

At the same time, it should always be borne in mind 
that the change from grass to a poor quality of hay or 
straw, for cows in milk, should not be too sudden. A 
poor quality of dry hay is far less palatable in the early 
part of winter, after the cows are taken from grass, 
than at a later period ; and, if it is resorted to with 
milch cows, will inevitably lead to a falling off in the 
milk, which no good feed can afterwards wholly restore. 

It is desirable, therefore, to know what can be used 
instead of his best English or upland meadow hay, and 
yet not suffer any greater loss in the flow of milk, or 
condition, than is absolutely necessary. In some sec- 
tions of New England, the best quality of swale hay 
will be used ; and the composition of that is as variable 
as possible, depending on the varieties of grasses of 
which it was made, and the manner of curing. But, 
in other sections, many will find it necessary to use 
straAv, and other substitutes ; and it may be desirable to 
know how much is required to form an equivalent in 



NUTRITIVE EQUIVALENTS. 



125 



nutrition to good meadow or English hay. The follow- 
ing brief table of nutritive equivalents will be conve- 
nient for reference : 



1. Meadow hay, . 

2. Red Clover-hay, 

3. Rye-straw, . . 

4. Oat-straw, . . 

5. Wheat-straw, . 

6. Barley-straw, . 

7. Pea-straw, . 





Percentage 


of Nitrogen. 


Nutritive 






equivalent. 


Dried. 


Undried. 


100 


1.34 


1.15 


75 


1.70 


1.54 


479 


0.30 


0.24 


383 


0.36 


0.30 


426 


0.36 


0.27 . 


460 


0.30 


0.25 


64 


1.45 


1.79 



The following is the composition of these several 
substances, in which their relative value will more 
distinctly appear : 



Water. 


Woody fibre. 


Starch, Gum, 
Sugar. 


Gluten, Albu- 
men, etc. 


Patty matter. 


Saline 
matter. 


14 


30 


40 


7.1 


2 to 5 


5 to 10 


14 


25 


40 


9.3 


3 to 5 


9 


12 to 15 


45 


38 


1.3 




4 


12 


45 


35 


1.3 


0.8 


6 


12 to 15 


50 


30 


1.3 


2 to 3 


5 


12 to 15 


50 


30 


1.3 




5 


10 to 15 


25 


45 


12.3 


1.5 


4 to 6 



From these tables it will be seen that, taking good 
English or meadow hay as the standard of comparison, 
and calling that one, 4.79 times the weight of rye-straw, 
or 3.83 times the weight of oat-straw, contains the same 
amount of nutritive matter ; that is, it would take 4.79 
times as much rye-straw to produce the same result 
as good meadow hay. 

The more elaborate nutritive equivalents of Boussin- 
gault will be found to be very valuable and suggestive, 
and the following table is given in this connection for 
the sake of convenient reference. 
11* 



126 



TABLE OF EQUIVALENTS. 



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x=> 


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<y 


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w 


w 



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•J9Zji9Aiqos 



■j^m 



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•310013 






lOt-noto 



o o o I i o I o co I t- o l is =io l I I l l l 



O O O lO o o 



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ooiaiiooo I o cd loo I 
i—l -sjl CO i— i co -* co csi 



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iooo COCSCOJr-CNl 

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hqocdco'ho'h i int-in'yJt^oococ^rtNHOM 

HHHt-rtClt-ffi CO CO £- £- i— (i— li— li— li— li— li— I 

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WINTER FOOD FOR COWS. 127 

The reader will find no difficulty in making this table 
of practical value in deciding upon the proper course 
of feeding to be pursued. 

In winter the best food for cows in milk will be good 
sweet meadow hay, a part of which should be cut and 
moistened with water, as all inferior hay or straw should 
be ; with an addition of root-crops, such as turnips, car- 
rots, parsnips, potatoes, mangold wurzel, with shorts, 
oil-cake, Indian-meal, or bean-meal. 

It is the opinion of most successful dairymen that 
the feeding of moist food cannot be too highly recom- 
mended for cows in milk, especially to those who desire 
to obtain the largest quantity. Hay cut and thoroughly 
moistened becomes more succulent and nutritive, and 
partakes more of the nature of green grass. 

As a substitute for the oil-cake, hitherto known as an 
exceedingly valuable article for feeding stock, there is 
probably nothing better than cotton-seed meal, now to 
be had in large quantities in the market. This is an 
article whose economic value has been but recently 
made known, but which, from practical trials already 
made, has proved eminently successful as food for milch 
cows. An average specimen of this was submitted for 
analysis to Professor Johnson, who reported that its 
composition is not inferior to that of the best flax-seed 
cake, and that in some respects its agricultural value 
surpasses that of any other kind of oil-cake, as is shown 
in the following table, containing in column first the 
analysis of cotton-seed meal made by himself; in column 
second, some of the results obtained by Dr. C. T. Jack- 
son on cake prepared by himself from hulled cotton-seed; 
in column third, an analysis of cotton-seed cake, made by 
Dr. Anderson, of Edinburgh ; in column fourth, the aver- 
age composition of eight samples of American linseed- 
cake ; and in column fifth, an analysis of meadow hay. 



128 ON WHAT THE VALUE OF FOOD DEPENDS. 



obtained by Dr. Wolff in Saxony, given as a means of 
comparison. 



i. 



in. 



IV. 



Water, 

Oil, 

Albuminous bodies, . . 
Mucilaginous and Saccha- 
rine matters, .... 

Fibre, . . , 

Ash 



Nitrogen, .... 
Phosphoric acid in ash, 
Sand, 



6.82 
16.47 
44.41 

12.74 

11.76 

7.80 



100.00 

7.05 

2.36 

.94 



48.82 



8.96 



7.75 
2.45 



11.19 

9.08 
25.16 

48.93 

5.64 



100.00 
3.95 
1.32 



9.23 
12.96 

28.28 

34.22 

9.00 
6.21 



16.94 

10.69 

40.11 

27.16 
5.04 



100.00 
4.47 



100.00 



Johnson also remarks, in this connection, that the 
great value of linseed-cake, as an adjunct to hay for fat 
cattle and milch cows, has long been recognized ; and 
is undeniably traceable in the main to three ingredients 
of the seeds of the oil-yielding plants. The value of 
food depends upon the quantity of matters it contains 
which may be appropriated by the animal which con- 
sumes the food. Now, it is proved that the fat of ani- 
mals is derivable from the starch, gum, and sugar, and 
more directly and easily from the oil of the food. 
These four substances are, then, the fat-formers. The 
muscles, nerves, and tendons of animals, the fibrine of 
their blood, and the curd of their milk, are almost iden- 
tical in composition, and strongly similar in many of 
their properties with matters found in all vegetables, 
but chiefly in such as form the most concentrated food. 
These blood (and muscle) formers are characterized by 
containing about fifteen and a half per cent, of nitrogen ; 
and hence are called nitrogenous substances. They are 
also often designated as the albuminous bodies. 

The bony framework of the animal owes its solidity 
to phosphate of lime, and this substance must be fur- 



COTTON-SEED CAKE. 129 

nislied by the food. A perfect food must supply the 
animal with these three classes of bodies, and in proper 
proportions. The addition of a small quantity of a food 
rich in oil and albuminous substances to the ordinary 
kinds of feed, which contain a large quantity of vegeta- 
ble fibre or woody matter, more or less indigestible, but 
nevertheless indispensable to the herbivorous animals, 
their digestive organs being adapted to a bulky food, 
has been found highly advantageous in practice. Nei- 
ther hay alone nor concentrated food alone gives the 
best results. A certain combination of the two pre- 
sents the most advantages. 

A Bavarian farmer has recently announced that heif- 
ers fed, for three months before calving, with a little 
linseed-cake, in addition to their other fodder, acquire 
a larger development of the milk-vessels, and yield 
more milk afterwards, than similar animals fed as usual. 
Cotton-seed cake must have an equally good effect. 

Some of those who have used cotton-seed cake have 
found difficulty in inducing cattle to eat it. By giving 
it at first in small doses, mixed with other palatable 
food, they soon learn to eat it with relish. 

On comparing the analyses II. and I. with the aver- 
age composition of linseed-cake IV., it will be seen that 
the cotton-seed cake is much richer in oil and albumi- 
nous matters than the linseed-cake. A correspondingly 
less quantity will therefore be required. Three pounds 
of this cotton-seed cake are equivalent to four of linseed- 
cake of average quality. 

During the winter season, as already remarked, a fre- 
quent change of food is especially necessary, both as 
contributing to the general health of animals, and as a 
means of stimulating the digestive organs, and thus 
increasing the secretion of milk. A mixture used as 
cut feed, and well moistened, is now especially benefi- 

9 



130 BULK AS AN ELEMENT OF FOOD. 

cial, since concentrated food, which would otherwise 
be given in. small quantities, may be united with larger 
quantities of coarser and less nutritive food, and the 
complete assimilation of the whole be better secured. 
On this subject Dr. Voelcker truly observes that the 
most nutritious kinds of food produce little or no effect 
when they are not digested by the stomach, or if the 
digested. food is not absorbed by the lymphatic vessels, 
and not assimilated by the various parts of the body. 
Now, the normal functions of the digestive organs not 
only depend on the composition of the food, but also 
on its volume. The volume or bulk of the food con- 
tributes to the healthy activity of the digestive organs, 
by exercising a stimulating effect on the nerves which 
govern them. Thus the whole organization of ruminat- 
ing animals necessitates the supply of bulky food, to 
keep the animal in good condition. 

Feed sweet and nutritious food, therefore, regu- 
larly, frequently, and in small quantities, and change it 
often, and the best results may be confidently expected. 
If the cows are not in milk, but are to come in in the 
spring, the difference in feeding should be rather in the 
quantity than the quality, if the highest yield is to be 
expected from them the coming season. 

The most common feeding is hay alone, and oftentimes 
very poor hay, at that. The main point is to keep the 
animal in a healthy and thriving condition, and not to 
suffer her to fail in flesh ; and with this object some 
change and variety of food is highly important. And 
here it may be remarked that cows in calf should not, 
as a general rule, be milked the last month or six weeks 
before calving, and many prefer to have them run dry 
as many as eight or ten weeks. The yield of milk is 
better the coming season, and holds out better, than if 
they are milked up to the time of calving. 



PARTURITION OF THE COW. 131 

There are exceptions, however, and it is often very 
difficult to dry off a cow sufficiently to make it judicious 
to cease milking much, if any, before the time of calving. 
Some even prefer to milk quite up to this time ; but the 
weight of authority among the best practical farmers is 
so decidedly against it, that there can be no question 
of its bad economy. Towards the close of winter, a 
herd of cows will begin to come in, or approach their 
time of calving. Care should then be taken not to feed 
too rich or stimulating food for the last week or two 
before this event, as it is often attended with ill conse- 
quences. A plenty of hay, a few potatoes or shorts, 
and pure water, will be sufficient. 

As the time of calving approaches, the cow should be 
removed from the rest of the herd, to a pen with a level 
floor, by herself. Nothing is needed, usually, but to 
supply her regularly with food and drink, and leave her 
quietly to herself. In most cases the parturition will 
be natural and easy, and the less the cow is disturbed 
or meddled with, the better. She will do better with- 
out help than with ; but she should be watched, in order 
to see that no difficulty occurs which may require aid 
and attention. In cases of difficult parturition the 
aid of a skilful veterinary surgeon may be required. 
For those who may desire to make themselves familiar 
with the details of such cases so far as to be able to act 
for themselves, Skellett's "Practical Treatise on the 
Parturition of the Cow, or the Extraction of the Calf," 
an elaborate work, published in London in 1844, will be 
an important guide. 

In spring the best feeding for dairy cows will be 
much the same as that for winter ; the roots in store 
over winter, such as carrots, mangold wurzel, turnips, 
and parsnips, furnishing very valuable aid in increasing* 
the quantity and improving the quality of milk. Tow- 



132 FEEDING FOR QUANTITY. 

ards the close of this season, and before the grass of 
the pastures is sufficiently grown to make it judicious 
to turn out the cows, the best dairymen provide a sup- 
ply of green fodder in the shape of winter rye, which, 
if cut while it is tender and succulent, and before it is 
half grown, will be greatly relished. Unless cut young, 
however, its stalk soon becomes hard and unpalatable. 

Having stated briefly the general principles of feed- 
ing cows for the dairy, it is proper to give the state- 
ments of successful practical dairymen, both as corrob- 
orating what has already been said, and as showing the 
difference in practice in feeding and managing with 
reference to the specific objects of dairy farming. And 
first, a farmer of Massachusetts, supplying milk for the 
Boston market, and feeding for that object, says : " For 
thirty cows, cut with a machine thirty bushels for one 
feed ; one third common English hay, one third salt hay, 
and one third rye or barley straw ; add thirty quarts of 
wheat bran or shorts, and ten quarts of oat and corn 
meal moistened with water. One bushel of this mixture 
is given to each cow in the morning, and the same 
quantity at noon and in the evening. In addition to 
this, a peck of mangold wurzel is given to each cow 
per day. This mode of feeding has been found to pro- 
duce nearly as much milk as the best grass feed in sum- 
mer. When no wheat-bran or any kind of meal is given, 
the hay is fed without cutting." 

Another excellent farmer, of the western part of the 
same state, devoting his attention to the manufacture 
of cheese, and the successful competitor for the first 
prize of the state society for dairies, says of his feeding: 
" My pastures, are upland, and yield sweet feed. I fed, 
in the month of June, all the whey from the milk made 
into cheese, without any meal. In September, my pas- 
tures being very much dried up, I fed all the whey, 



FEEDING FOR QUALITY. 133 

with one quart of meal to each cow, and also ten pounds 
of corn fodder to each cow per day. 

" I commence feeding my cows in the spring, before 
calving, with three quarts of meal each per day, until 
the feed in the pasture is good. 

" I consider the best mixture of grain, ground into 
meal, for milk, is equal quantities of rye, buckwheat, 
and oats. For the last ten years I have not made less 
than five hundred pounds of cheese and twenty pounds 
of butter to each cow ; and one year I made six hundred 
and forty pounds of cheese and twenty pounds of butter 
to each cow. - 

"A cow will give more milk on good fresh grass than 
any other feed. When the grass begins to fail, I make 
up the deficiency by extra feed of meal and corn fodder. 
I feed all my whey to my cows. I let them run dry 
four months, and during this time I give them no extra 
feed, always keeping salt before them." 

Another, with one of the best butter dairies in the 
same state, explains his mode of management of cows 
in the stall as follows : " In the management of my stock 
the utmost gentleness is observed, and exact regularity 
in the hours of feeding while confined to the stable, and 
of milking throughout the year. 

" The stock is fed regularly three times a day. 

" In the morning, as soon as the milking is over, each 
cow (having been previously fed, and her bag cleaned 
by washing, if necessary) is thoroughly cleaned and 
groomed, if the expression may be used, with a curry- 
comb, from head to foot, and, when cleaned, turned out 
to drink. The stable is now cleaned out, the mangers 
swept, and the floors sprinkled with plaster ; and as the 
cows return, which they do as soon as inclined, they 
are tied up and left undisturbed until the next hour of 
feeding, which is at noon. 
12 



134 A PRACTICAL STATEMENT. 

" The cattle at this time are again turned out to 
drink, and, after being tied up on their return again, 
fed. Of course the stable is at this time again thor- 
oughly cleansed. And so again at night the same 
course is pursued. At this time a good bedding is 
spread for each cow, and, after all are in, they are fed. 

" At six o'clock the milking commences, and at its 
termination, after removing from the floor whatever 
manure may have been dropped, the stable is closed for 
the night. If carrots are fed, which is the only root 
allowed to my cows in milk, they are given at the time 
of the evening milking. 

" "Whatever material is taken for bedding (as corn- 
stalks, husks, &c.) is passed through a cutting-machine, 
and composes the noon feed, such portions as are not 
consumed by the cows being used for bedding. The 
additional labor of cutting up is amply compensated by 
the reduced amount of labor in working (loading) and 
ploughing under the manure. 

" While I consider it highly desirable that the cows, 
during the period they are stabled, should be kept warm 
and dry, I regard it as indispensable that they should 
be perfectly clean ; and, although the stock is stabled 
the whole time, care is taken that there is a sufficient 
degree of ventilation." 

In Herkimer county, New York, one of the best dairy 
districts in the country, a dairy farmer who kept twenty- 
five cows for the manufacture of cheese, making in one 
year nearly seven hundred pounds per cow, states his 
mode of feeding as follows : " When the ground is set- 
tled, and grass is grown so that cows can get their fill 
without too much toil, they are allowed to graze an 
hour, only, the first day ; the second day a little longer, 
and so on, till they get accustomed to the change of 
feed before they are allowed to have full range of pas- 



CHANGE OF PASTUEE. — CORN FODDER. 135 

ture. Shift of pasture is frequently made to keep feed 
fresh and a good bite. About one acre per cow affords 
plenty of feed till the first of August. If enough land 
was turned to pasture to feed the cows through the 
season, it would get a start of them about this time, and 
be hard and dry the balance of the season. To avoid 
turning on my meadows in the fall, I take one acre to 
every ten cows, plough and prepare it the fore part 
of June for sowing; I commence sowing corn broadcast, 
about half an acre at a time (for twenty-five cows), so 
that it may grow eighty or ninety days before it is cut 
and fed. I have found, by experiment, that it then con- 
tains the most saccharine juice, and will produce the 
most milk. If the ground is strong, I sow two bushels 
per acre ; more if the ground is not manured. 

" The common yield is from fifteen to twenty tons (of 
green feed) per acre. About the first of August, when 
heat and flies are too oppressive for cows to feed quietly 
in the day-time, I commence feeding them with what 
corn they will eat in the morning, daily, which is cut up 
with a grass-scythe, and drawn on a sled or wagon to 
the milk-barn and fed to them in the stalls, which is 
one hour's work for a man at each feeding. When thus 
plentifully fed, my cows have their knitting-work on 
hand for the day, which they can do up by lying quietly 
under artificial shades, erected in such places as need 
manuring most, and are most airy, by setting posts and 
putting poles and bushes on top, the sides being left 
open. These shades may be made and removed annu- 
ally, to enrich other portions of soil, if desired, at the 
small expense of one dollar for each ten cows. At 
evening, my cows are fed whey only, because they can 
feed more quietly, with less rambling, and will give 
more milk by feeding most when the dew is on the 
crass. 



136 AIR AND WARMTH. 

" The capacity of cows for giving milk is varied 
much by habit. In fall, after the season of feeding is 
past, I feed four quarts of wheat bran or shorts made 
into slop with whey, or a peck of roots to each cow, till 
milking season closes (about the first of December). 
"When confined in stables and fed hay and milked, they 
are fed each one pail full of thin slop at morning before 
foddering, and also at evening, to render their food 
more succulent, and they will not drink so much cold 
water when let out in the middle of the day. In cold 
weather cows are kept well attended in warm stables. 
No foddering is done on the ground. Thus a supply 
of milk is kept up, and the cows get in good flesh, 
while their blood and bags are left in a healthy con- 
dition when dried off. 

" This flesh they hold till milk season in spring, with- 
out other feed than good hay. They will not get 
fleshy bags, but come into milk at once. About the 
first of April they are carded daily, till they are turned 
to grass. Wheat-bran in milk or whey, slops, or 
roots, are daily fed, as they are found best adapted to 
the nature of different cows, and most likely to estab- 
lish a regular flow of milk till grass comes. ' ; 

All practical dairymen concur in saying that a warm 
and well-ventilated barn is indispensable to the promo- 
tion of the highest yield of milk in winter ; and most 
agree that cows in milk should not be turned out even 
to drink in cold weather, all exposure to cold tending 
to lessen the yield of milk. 

■ In the London dairies, where, of course, the cows 
are fed so as to produce the largest flow of milk, the 
treatment is as follows : The cows are kept at night in 
stalls. About three a. m. each has half a bushel of 
grains. When milking is finished, each receives a 
bushel of turnips (or mangolds), and shortly afterwards 



THE WILLOWBANK DAIEY. 137 

one tenth of a truss of hay of the best quality. This 
feeding occurs before eight a. m., when the animals are 
turned into the yard. Four hours after, they are again 
tied up in their stalls, and have another feed of grains. 
When the afternoon milking is over (about three p. M.), 
they are fed with a bushel of turnips, and after the 
lapse of an hour, hay is given them as before. This 
mode of feeding usually continues throughout the root 
season, or from November to March. During the 
remaining months they are fed with grains, tares, and 
cabbages, and a proportion of rowen or second-cut hay. 
They are supplied regularly until they are turned out 
to grass, when they pass the whole of the night in the 
field. The yield is about six hundred and fifty gallons 
a year for each cow. 

Mr. Harley, whose admirable dairy establishment has 
been already alluded to, as erected for the purpose of 
supplying the city of Glasgow with a good quality of 
milk, and which contributed more than anything else to 
improve the quality of milk furnished to all the cities 
of Great Britain, adopted the following system of feed- 
ing with the greatest profit: In the early part of 
summer, young grass and green barley, the first cut- 
ting especially, mixed with a large proportion of old 
hay or straw, and a good quantity of salt to prevent 
swelling, were used. As summer advanced less hay 
and straw were given, and as the grass approached 
ripeness they were discontinued altogether, but young 
and wet clover was never given without an admixture 
of dry provender. When grass became scarce, young 
turnips and turnip-leaves were steamed with hay, and 
formed a good substitute. As grass decreased the 
turnips were increased, and at length became a com- 
plete substitute. As the season advanced a large pro- 
portion of distillers' grains and wash was given with 
12* 



138 MR. HORSFALL'S COURSE OF FEEDING. 

other food, but these were found to be apt to make the 
cattle grain-sick ; and if this feeding were long con- 
tinued, the health of the cows became affected. Boiled 
linseed and short-cut wheat-straw mixed with the 
grains were found to prevent the cows from turning 
sick. As spring approached, Swedish turnips, when 
cheap, were substituted for yellow turnips. These two 
roots, steamed with hay and other mixtures, afforded 
soft food till grass was again in season. When any of 
the cows were surfeited, the food was withheld till the 
appetite returned, when a small quantity was given, 
and increased gradually to the full allowance. 

But the most elaborate and valuable experiments in 
the feeding and management of milch cows are those 
recently made by Mr. T. Horsfall, of England, and pub- 
lished in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society. 
His practice, though adapted, perhaps, more especially 
to his own section, is nevertheless of such general 
application and importance as to be worthy of attention. 
By his course of treatment he found that he could pro- 
duce as much and as rich butter in winter as in 
summer. 

His first object was to afford a full supply of the ele- 
ments of food adapted to the maintenance and also to 
the produce of the animal ; and this could not be effected 
by the ordinary food and methods of feeding, since it is 
impossible to induce a cow to consume a quantity of 
hay requisite to supply the waste of the system, and 
keep up, at the same time, a full yield of the best 
quality of milk. He used, to some extent, cabbages, 
kohl rabi, mangolds, shorts, and other substances, rich 
in the constituents of cheese and butter. " My food for 
milch cows," says he, " after having undergone various 
modifications, has for two seasons consisted of rape-cake 
live pounds and bran two pounds, for each cow, mixed 



A NEW KIND OF FOOD. 139 

with a sufficient quantity of bean-straw, oat-straw, and 
shells of oats, in equal proportions, to supply them 
three times a day with as much as they will eat. The 
whole of the materials are moistened and blended 
together, and, after being well steamed, are given to 
the animals in a warm state. The attendant is allowed 
one pound to one and a half pounds per cow, according 
to circumstances, of bean-meal, which he is charged to 
give to each cow in proportion to the yield of milk ; 
those in full milk getting two pounds each per day, 
others but little. It is dry, and mixed with the steamed 
food on its being dealt out separately. When this is 
eaten up, green food is given, consisting of cabbages 
from October to December, kohl rabi till February, and 
mangold till grass time. With a view to nicety of 
flavor, I limit the supply of green food to thirty or 
thirty-five pounds per day for each. After each feed, 
four pounds of meadow hay, or twelve pounds per day, 
is given to each cow. They are allowed water twice 
a day to the extent they will drink." 

Bean-straw uncooked being found to be hard and 
unpalatable, it was steamed to make it soft and pulpy, 
when it possessed an agreeable odor, and imparted its 
flavor to the whole mess. It was cut for this purpose 
just before ripening, but after the bean was fully 
grown, and in this state was found to possess nearly 
double the amount of albuminous matter, so valuable to 
milch cows, of good meadow or upland hay. Bean or 
shorts is also vastly improved by steaming or soaking 
with hot water, when its nutriment is more readily 
assimilated. It contains about fourteen per cent, of 
albumen, and is rich in phosphoric acid. Rape-cake was 
found to be exceedingly valuable. Linseed and cotton- 
seed cake may probably be substituted for it in this 
country. Mr. Horsfall is accustomed to turn his cows 



140 STIMULATING THE APPETITE. 

in May into a rich pasture, housing them at night, and 
giving them a mess of the steamed mixture and some 
hay morning and night; and from June to October they 
have cut grass in the stall, besides what they get in the 
pasture, and two feeds of the steamed mixture a day. 
After the beginning of October the cows are kept 
housed. With such management, his cows generally 
yield from' twelve to sixteen quarts of milk (wine 
measure) a day, for about eight months after calving, 
when they fall off in milk, but gain in flesh, up to calv- 
ing-time. In this course of treatment the manure is 
far better than the average, and his pastures are con- 
stantly improved. The average amount of butter from 
every sixteen quarts of milk is twenty-five ounces, a 
proportion far larger than the average. His investi- 
gations are very full and complete. — See Appendix. 

How widely does this course of practice differ from 
that of most farmers ! The object with many seems 
to be to see with how little food they can keep the 
cow alive. Now, it appears to me that the milch cow 
should be regarded as an instrument of transformation. 
With so much hay, so much grain, so many roots, how 
can the most milk, or butter, or cheese, be made ? The 
conduct of a manufacturer who owned good machinery, 
and an abundance of raw material, and had the labor at 
hand, would be considered as very absurd, if he hesi- 
tated to supply the material, and keep the machinery at 
work at least so long as he could run it with profit. 

Stimulate the appetite, then, and induce the cow to 
eat, by a frequent change of diet, not merely enough to 
supply the constant waste of her system, but enough 
and to spare, of a food adapted to the production of 
milk of the quality desired. 

Soiling. — Of the advantages of soiling milch cows, 
or feeding exclusively in the barn, there are still many 



THE SOILING SYSTEM. 141 

conflicting opinions. As to its economy of land and 
feed there is no question, it being generally admitted 
that a given number of animals may be abundantly fed 
on a less space ; nor is there much question as to the 
increased quantity of milk yielded in stall feeding. Its 
economy in this country turns rather upon the cost of 
labor and land ; and the question asked by the dairy- 
man is whether it will pay — whether its advantages 
are sufficient to balance the extra expense of cutting 
and feeding over and above cropping on the pasture. 
The importance of this subject has been strongly im- 
pressed upon the attention of farmers in many sections 
of the country, by a growing conviction that something 
must be done to improve the pastures, or that they 
must be abandoned altogether. 

Thousands of acres of neglected pasture-land in the 
older states are so poor and worn out that from four to 
eight acres furnish but a miserable subsistence for a 
good-sized cow. No animal can flourish under such cir- 
cumstances. The labor and exertion of feeding is too 
great, to say nothing of the vastly inferior quality 
of the grasses in such pastures to those on more 
recently seeded lands. True economy would dictate 
that such pastures should either be allowed to run up 
to wood, or be devoted to sheep-walks, or ploughed and 
improved. Cows, to be able to yield well, must have 
plenty of food of a sweet and nutritious quality ; and 
unless they find it, they wander over a large space, if 
at liberty, and deprive themselves of rest. 

If a farmer or dairyman is the unfortunate owner of 
such pastures, there can be no question that, as a mat- 
ter of real economy, he had better resort to the soiling 
system for his milch cows, by which means he will 
largely increase his annual supply of good manure, and 
thus have the means of improving, and bringing his 



142 THE TRUE TEST. 

land to a higher state of cultivation. A very success- 
ful instance of this management occurs in the report of 
the visiting committee of an agricultural society in 
Massachusetts, in which they say : " We have now in 
mind a farmer in this county who keeps seven or eight 
cows in the stable through the summer, and feeds them 
on green fodder, chiefly Indian-corn. We asked him 
the reasons for it. His answer was : 1. That he gets 
more milk than he can by any other method. 2. That 
he gets more manure, especially liquid manure. 3. 
That he saves it all, by keeping a supply of mould or 
mud under the stable, to be taken out and renewed as 
often as necessary. 4. That it is less troublesome than 
to drive his cows to pasture ; that thej^ are less vexed 
by flies, and have equally good health. 5. That his 
mowing-land is every year growing more productive, 
without the expense of artificial manure. He estimates 
that on an acre of good land twenty tons of green fod- 
der may be raised. That which is dried is cut fine, and 
mixed with meal or shorts, and fed with profit. He 
believes that a reduced and partially worn-out farm — 
supposing the land to be naturally good — could be 
brought into prime order in five years, without extra 
outlay of money for manure, by the use of green fod- 
der in connection with the raising and keeping of pigs; 
not fattening them, but selling at the age of four or five 
months." He keeps most of his land in grass, improv- 
ing its quality and productiveness by means of top- 
dressing, and putting money in his pocket, — which is, 
after all, the true test both for theory and practice. 

Another practical case in hand on this point is that 
of a gentleman in the same state, who had four cows, 
but not a rod of land to pasture them on. They were, 
therefore, never out of the barn, — or, at least, not 
out of the yard, — and were fed with grass, regularly 



ECONOMY OF LAND. 143 

mown for them ; with green Indian-corn fodder, which 
had been sown broadcast for the purpose ; and with 
about three pints of meal a day. Their produce in but- 
ter was kept for thirteen weeks. Two of them were 
but two years old, having calved the same spring. All 
the milk of one of them was taken by her calf six 
weeks out of the thirteen, and some of the milk of the 
other was taken for family use, the quantity of which 
was not measured. These heifers could not be esti- 
mated, therefore, as more than equal to one cow in full 
milk. And yet from these cows no less than three 
hundred and eighty-nine pounds of butter were made in 
the thirteen weeks. Another pound would have made 
an average of thirty pounds a week for the whole time. 

It appears from these, and other similar instances of 
successful soiling, or stall-feeding in summer on green 
crops cut for the purpose, that the largely increased 
quantity of the yield fully counterbalances the slightly 
deteriorated quality. And not only is the quantity 
yielded by each cow increased, but the same extent of 
land, under good culture, will carry double or treble the 
number of ordinary pastures, and keep them in better 
condition. There is also a saving of manure. But with 
us the economy of soiling is the exception, and not the 
rule. 

In adopting this system of feeding, regularity is 
required as much as in any other, and a proper variety 
of food. A succession of green crops should be 
provided, as near as convenient to the stable. The 
first will naturally be winter rye, in the Northern 
States, as that shoots up with great luxuriance. Win- 
ter rape would probably be an exceedingly valuable 
addition to the plants usually cultivated for soiling 
in this country, in sections where it withstands the 
severity of the winter. Cabbages kept in the cellar, or 



144 STILL-SLOPS. — SWILL-MILK. 

pit, and transplanted early, will also come in here to 
advantage, and clover will very soon follow them ; 
oats, millet, and green Indian-corn, as the season ad- 
vances : and, a little later still, perhaps, the Chinese 
sugar-cane, which should not be cut till headed out. 
These plants, in addition to other cultivated grasses, will 
furnish an unfailing succession of succulent and tender 
fodder; while the addition of a little Indian, linseed, 
or cotton-seed meal will be found economical. 

In the vicinity of large towns and cities, where the 
object is too often to feed for the largest quantity, 
without reference to quality, an article known as dis- 
tillers' swill, or still-slop, is extensively used. This, if 
properly fed in limited quantities, in combination with 
other and more bulky food, may be a valuable article 
for the dairyman; but, if given, as it too often is, with- 
out the addition of other kinds of food, it soon affects 
the health and constitution of the animals fed on it. 
This swill contains a considerable quantity of water, 
some nitrogenous compounds, and some inorganic mat- 
ter, in the shape of phosphates and alkaline salts found 
in the different kinds of grain of which it is made up, 
as Indian corn, wheat, barley, rye, &c. Where this 
forms the principal food of milch cows, the milk is of a 
very poor quality — blue in color, and requiring the 
addition of coloring substances to make it salable. It 
contains, often, less than one per cent, of butter, and 
seldom over one and three tenths or one and a half per 
cent., while good, salable milk ought to contain from 
three to five per cent. It will not coagulate, it is said, 
in less than five or six hours, while good milk will 
invariably coagulate in one hour or less, under the 
same conditions. Its effect on the system of young 
children is .therefore very destructive, causing diseases 
of various kinds, and, if continued, certain death. 



STRUCTURE OF THE UDDER. 145 

Milking. — The manner of milking exerts a more 
powerful and lasting influence on the productiveness of 
the cow than most farmers are aware of. That a slow 
and careless milker soon dries up the best of cows, 
every practical farmer and dairyman knows ; but a care- 
ful examination of the beautiful structure of the udder 
will serve further to explain the proper mode of milking, 
to obtain and keep up the largest yield. " The udder 
of a cow," says a writer in the Rural Cyclopaedia, " is a 
unique mass, composed of two symmetrical parts, simply 
united to each other by a cellular tissue, lax, and very 
abundant ; and each of these parts comprises two 
divisions or quarters, which consist of many small 
granules, and are connected together by a compact 
laminous tissue ; and from each quarter proceed systems 
of ducts, which form successive unions and confluences, 
somewhat in the manner of the many affluents of a 
large river, until they terminate in one grand excretory 
canal, which passes down through the elongated mam- 
miliary body called the teat. Its lactiferous or milk 
tubes, however, do not, as might be supposed, proceed 
exactly from smaller to larger ducts by a gradual and 
regular enlargement, because it would not have been 
proper that the secretion of milk should escape as it 
was formed; and therefore we find an apparatus adapted 
for the purpose of retaining it for a proper time. This 
apparatus is to be found both in the teat and in the in- 
ternal construction of the udder. The teat resembles a 
funnel in shape, and somewhat in office ; and it is pos- 
sessed of a considerable degree of elasticity. It seems 
formed principally of the cutis, with some muscular 
fibres, and it is covered on the outside by cuticle, like 
every other part of the body ; but the cuticle here not 
only covers the exterior, but also turns upwards, and 
lines the inside of the extremity of the teat, as far as it 
13 10 



146 MANNEK OF MILKING. 

is contracted, and there terminates by a frilled edge, 
the rest of the interior of the teats and ducts being 
lined by mucous membrane. But, as the udder in most 
animals is attached in a pendulous manner to the body, 
and as the weight of the column of fluid would press 
with a force which would, in every case, overcome the 
resistance of the contractions of the extremity, or 
prove oppressive to the teat, there is in the internal 
arrangement of the udder a provision made to obviate 
this difficulty. The various ducts, as they are united, 
do not become gradually enlarged so as to admit the 
ready flow of milk in a continual stream to the teat, 
but are so arranged as to take off, in a great measure, 
the extreme pressure to which the teat would be other- 
wise exposed. Each main duct, as it enters into another, 
has a contraction produced, by which a kind of valvular 
apparatus is formed in such a manner as to become 
pouches or sacks, capable of containing the great bod) 7 
of the milk. In consequence of this arrangement, it is 
necessary that a kind of movement upwards, or lift, 
should be given to the udder before the teat is drawn, 
to force out the milk ; and by this lift the milk is dis- 
placed from these pouches, and escapes into the teat, 
and is then easily squeezed out ; while the contractions, 
or pouches, at the same time resist, in a certain degree, 
the return or reflux of the displaced milk." 

The first requisite of a good milker is, of course, 
the utmost cleanliness. Without this, the milk is unen- 
durable. The udder should, therefore, be carefully 
cleaned before the milking commences. The milker 
may begin gradually and gently, but should steadily 
increase the rapidity of the operation till the udder is 
emptied, using a pail sufficiently large to hold all, Avith- 
out the necessity of changing. Cows are very sensi- 
tive, and the pail cannot be changed, nor can the 



EFFECT OF CARELESS MILKING. 147 

milker stop or rise during the process of milking, with- 
out leading the cow more or less to withhold her milk. 
The utmost care should be taken to strip to the last drop, 
and to do it rapidly, and not in a slow and negligent 
manner, which is sure to have its effect on the yield of 
the cow. If any milk is left, it is reabsorbed into the 
system, or else becomes caked, and diminishes the tend- 
ency to secrete a full quantity afterwards. Milking as 
dry as possible is especially necessary with young cows 
with their first calf, as the mode of milking, and the 
length of time to which they can be made to hold out, 
will have very much to do with their milking qualities 
as long as they live. 

At the age of two or three years the milky glands 
have not become fully developed, and their largest 
development will depend very greatly upon the man- 
agement after the first calf. Cows should have, 
therefore, the most milk-producing food ; be treated 
with constant gentleness ; never struck, or spoken 
harshly to, but coaxed and caressed ; and in ninety-nine 
cases out of a hundred they will grow up gentle and 
quiet. But harshness is worse than useless. Nothing 
does so much to dry a cow up, especially a young cow. 

The longer the young cow, with her first and sec- 
ond calf, can be made to hold out, the more surely 
will this habit be fixed upon her. Stop milking her 
four months before the next calf, and it will be dif- 
ficult to make her hold out to within four or six 
Aveeks of the time of calving afterwards. Induce her, 
if possible, by moist and succulent food, and by care- 
ful milking, to hold out even up to the time of calv- 
ing, if you desire to milk her so long, and this habit 
will be likely to be fixed upon her for life. But do 
not expect to obtain the full yield of a cow the first 
year after calving. Some of the very best cows are 



148 GENTLE TREATMENT. 

slow to develop their best qualities ; and do cow reaches 
her prime till the age of five or six years. 

The extreme importance of care and attention to 
these points cannot be over-estimated. The wild cows 
grazing on the plains of South America are said to give 
only about three or four quarts a day at the height of 
the flow ; and many an owner of large herds in Texas, it 
is said, has too little milk for family use, and sometimes 
receives his supply of butter from the New York 
market. There is, therefore, a constant tendency to dry 
up in milch cows ; and it must be guarded against with 
special care, till the habit of yielding a large quantity, 
and yielding it long, becomes fixed in the young animal, 
when, with proper care, it may easily be kept up. 

If gentle and mild treatment is observed and perse- 
vered in, the operation of milking appears to be one of 
pleasure to the animal, as it undoubtedly is ; but if an 
opposite course is pursued, — if, at every restless move- 
ment, caused, perhaps, by pressing a sore teat, the animal 
is harshly spoken to, — she will be likely to learn to kick 
as a habit, and it will be difficult to overcome it ever 
afterwards. To induce quiet and readiness to give 
down the milk freely, it is better that the cow should 
be fed at milking-time with cut feed, or roots, placed 
within her easy reach. 

I have never practised milking more than twice a 
day, because in spring and summer other farm-work 
was too pressing to allow of it ; but there is no doubt 
that, for some weeks after calving, and in the height 
of the flow, the cows ought, if possible, to be milked 
regularly three times a day — at early morning, noon, and 
night. Every practical dairyman knows that cows thus 
milked give a larger quantity of milk than if milked 
only twice, though it may not be quite so rich ; and in 
young cows, no doubt, it has a tendency to promote the 



DAIRY-MAIDS. WARM BARN. 149 

development of the udder and milk-veins. A frequent 
milking stimulates an increased secretion, therefore, and 
ought never to be neglected in the milk-dairy, either 
in the case of young cows or very large milkers, at the 
height of the flow, which will ordinarily be for two or 
three months after calving. 

The charge of this branch of the dairy should gen- 
erally be intrusted to women. They are more gentle 
and winning than men. The same person should milk 
the same cow regularly, and not change from one to 
another, unless there are special reasons for it. 

There being a wide difference in the quality as well 
as in the quantity of milk of different cows, no dairy- 
man should neglect to test the milk of each new addi- 
tion to his dairy stock, whether it be an animal of his 
own raising or one brought from abroad. A lactometer 
is a very convenient instrument here ; but any one can 
set the milk of each cow separately at first, and give it 
a fair and full trial, when the difference will be found 
to be great. Economy will dictate that the cows 
least adapted to the purpose should be disposed of, and 
their place supplied by better ones. 

The Barn. — The management of dairy stock requires 
a warm and well-ventilated barn or cow-room, in latitudes 
where it becomes necessary to stall-feed during several 
months of the year. This should be arranged in a 
manner suitable to keeping hay and other fodder dry 
and sweet, and with reference to the comfort and health 
of animals, and the economy of labor and manure. The 
size and finish will, of course, depend on the wants and 
means of the farmer or dairyman ; but many little con- 
veniences can be added at trifling cost. 

The cow-room, Fig. 56, is given as an illustration 
merely of a convenient arrangement for a medium-sized 
dairy, and not as adapted to all circumstances or situ- 



150 DESCRIPTION OF PLAN. 

ations. The barn stands, we will suppose, upon a side 
hill, or an inclined surface, where it is easy to have a 
cellar, if it is desired ; and the cow-room, as shown in 
the figure, is in the second story, or directly over the 
cellar, the bottom of which should be somewhat dished, 
or lower in the middle than around the outer sides, and 
carefully paved or laid in cement. 

The cow-room, as shown in the figure, is drawn on a 
scale of twenty feet to the inch. On the outside is 
represented an open shed, m, for carts and wagons to 
remain under cover, thirty feet by fifteen, while llllll 
are bins for vegetables, to be filled through scuttles from 
the floor of the story above, and surrounded by solid 
walls. The area of this whole floor equals one hundred 
feet by fifty-seven, k, open space, and nearly on a 
level with the cow-chamber, through the door p. s, 
stairs to third story and to the cellar, d d d, passage 
next to the walls, five feet wide, and nine inches above 
the dung-pit. e e e, dung-pit, two feet wide, and seven 
inches below the floor where the cattle stand. The 
manure drops from this pit into the cellar below, five 
feet from the walls, and quite round the cellar, c c c, 
plank floor for cows, four feet six inches long, b b b, 
stalls for three yoke of oxen, on a platform five feet six 
inches long, n n, calf-pens, which may be used also 
for cows in calving, r r, feeding-troughs for calves. 
The feeding-boxes are made in the form of trays, with 
partitions between them. Water comes in by a pipe, 
to cistern a. This cistern is regulated by a cock and 
ball, and the water flows by dotted lines, o o o, to the 
boxes, and each box is connected by lead pipes well 
secured from frost, so that, if desired, each animal can 
be watered without leaving the stall, or water can be 
kept constantly before it. A scuttle by which sweep- 
ings, etc., may be put through into the cellar, is seen 



PLAN OP COW-ROOM, 



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towards the open area in the centre. 



152 DESCRIPTION OF PLAN. 

This cow-room may be furnished with a thermom- 
eter, clock, etc., and should always be well ventilated 
by sliding windows, which at the same time admit the 
light, 





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Fig. 57 is a transverse section of the cow-room, Fig. 
56, a being a walk behind the cows, five feet wide ; 
b, dung-pit ; c, cattle-stand ; d, feeding-trough, with a 
bottom on a level with the platform where the cattle 
stand ; k, open area, forty-three feet by fifty-six. 

The story above the cow-room, Fig. 58, is one hun- 
dred feet by forty-two, the bays for hay, ten on each 
side, being ten feet front and fifteen feet deep, and the 
open space, p, for the entrance of wagons, carts, etc., 
twelve feet wide, b, hay-scales, c, scale-beam, m m m 
m mm, ladders reaching almost to the roof. I I I, &c, 
scuttle-holes for sending vegetables direct to the bins, 
III, etc., below, a a b b, rooms on the corners for 
storage, d, scuttles, four of which are used for straw, 
one for cut hay, and one for muck for the cellar, n 
and the other small squares are eighteen-feet posts. /, 
passage to the tool-house, a room one hundred feet 
long by fifteen wide, o, stairs leading to the scaffold in 
the roof of the tool-house, i i, benches, g, floor, h, 
boxes for hoes, shovels, spades, picks, iron bars, old 
iron, etc. j j j, bins for fruit, h, scuttles to put apples 
into wagons, etc., in the shed below. One side of 
this tool-house may be used for ploughs and large 
implements, hay-rigging, harrows, etc. 



PLAN OF BARN FLOOR, 



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Proper ventilation of the cellar and the cow-room 
avoids the objection that the hay is liable to injury 



from noxious gases. 



154 THE BARN-CELLAR. 

The excellent manure-cellar beneath this barn extends 
only under the cow-room. It has a drive-way through 
doors on each side. No barn-cellar should be kept shut 
up tight, even in cold weather. The gases are con- 
stantly escaping from the manure, unless held by absorb- 
ents, and are liable not only to affect the health of the 
stock, but to injure the quality of the hay. To prevent 
this, and yet secure the important advantages of a ma- 
nure-cellar, the barn may be furnished with good-sized 
ventilators on the top, for every twenty-five feet of its 
length, and with wooden tubes leading from the cellar 
to the top. 

There should also be windows on different sides of 
the cellar, to admit a free circulation of air. With these 
precautions, together with the use of absorbents in the 
shape of loam and muck, there will be no danger of 
rotting the timbers of the barn, or of risking the health 
of the cattle or the quality of the hay. 

The temperature at which the cow-room should be 
kept is somewhere from 50° to G0°, Fahr. The practice 
and the opinions of successful dairymen differ on this 
point. Too great heat would affect the health and appe- 
tite of the herd, while too low a temperature is equally 
objectionable, for various reasons. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE RAISING OF CALVES. 

It has been found in practice that calves properly 
bred and raised on the farm have a far greater intrinsic 
value for that farm, other things being equal, than any 
that can be procured elsewhere, while on the manner 
in which they are raised will depend much of their 
future usefulness and profit. These considerations 
should have their proper weight in the decision as to 
whether a promising calf from a good cow and bull 
shall be kept or sold to the butcher. But, rather than 
raise a calf at hap-hazarcl, and simply because its 
dam was celebrated as a milker, the judicious farmer 
will judge of the peculiar characteristics of the animal 
itself. This will often save a great and useless outlay 
which has sometimes been incurred in raising calves 
for dairy purposes, that a more careful examination 
would have rejected as unpromising. 

The method of judging stock developed in a former 
chapter is of practical use here, and it is safer to rely 
upon it, to some extent, particularly when other appear- 
ances concur, than to go on blindly. The milk-mirror 
on the calf is small, but no smaller in proportion to its 
size than that of the cow; while its shape and form can 
generally be distinctly seen, particularly at the end of 
ten or twelve weeks. The development of the udder, 
and other peculiarities, will give some indication of the 



156 EAISING CALVES.' — LOCAL PRACTICES. 

future capacities of the animal, and these should be 
studied. 

If we except the manure of young stock, the calf is 
the first product of the cow, and as such demands our 
attention, whether it is to be raised or hurried off to 
the shambles. The practice adopted in raising calves 
differs widely in different sections of the country, being- 
governed very much by local circumstances, as the 
vicinity of a milk-market, the value of milk for the 
dairy, the object of breeding, whether mainly for beef, 
for work, or for the dairy, etc. ; but, in general, it may 
be said that, within the range of thirty or forty miles 
of good veal-markets, which large towns furnish, com- 
paratively few are raised at all. Most of them are 
fatted and sold at ages varying from three to eight or 
ten weeks ; and in milk-dairies still nearer large towns 
and cities they are often hurried off at one or two 
days, or, at most, a week old. In both of these cases, 
as long as the calf is kept it is generally allowed to 
suckle the cow, and, as the treatment is very simple, there 
is nothing which particularly calls for remark, unless 
it be to condemn the practice entirely, on the ground 
that there is a more profitable way even for fattening 
calves for the butcher, and to say that allowing the calf 
to suck the cow at all is objectionable on the score of 
economy, except in cases where it is rendered neces- 
sary by the hard and swollen condition of the udder. 

If the calf is so soon to be taken away, I should pre- 
fer not to suffer the cow to become attached to it at 
all, since she is apt to withhold her milk when it is 
removed, and a loss is sustained. The farmer will be 
governed by the question of profit, whatever course it 
is proposed to adopt. In raising blood stock, however, 
or in raising beef cattle, without any regard to economy 
of milk, the system of suckling the calves, or Jetting 



BRINGING UP BY HAND. 157 

them run with the cow, may and will be adopted, since 
it is usually attended with somewhat less labor. 

The other course, which is regarded as the best where 
the calf is to be raised for the dairy, is to bring it up 
by hand. This is clone almost universally in all coun- 
tries where the raising of dairy cows is best understood, 
— in Switzerland, Holland, some parts of Germany, and 
England. It requires rather more care, on the whole ; 
but it is decidedly preferable, since the calves cost less, 
as the food can be easily modified, and the growth is 
not checked, as it is apt to be when the calf is finally 
taken off from the cow. I speak, of course, of sections 
where the milk of the cow is of some account for the 
dairy, and where it is too valuable to be devoted entirely 
to nourishing the calf. In this case, as soon as the calf 
is dropped the cow is allowed to lick off the slimy moist- 
ure till it is dry, which she will usually do from instinct, 
or, if not, a slight sprinkling of salt over the body of the 
calf will immediately tempt her. The calf is left to suck 
once or twice, which it will do as soon as it is able to 
stand. It should, in all cases, be permitted to have the 
first milk that comes from the cow, which is of a turbid, 
yellowish color, unfit for any of the purposes of the 
dairy, but somewhat purgative or medicinal, and admir- 
ably and wisely designed by nature to free the bowels 
and intestines of the new-born animal from the mucous, 
excrementitious matter always existing in them after 
birth. Too much of this new milk may, however, be 
hurtful even to the new-born calf, while it should never 
be given at all to older calves. The best course, it 
seems to me, — and I speak from considerable experi- 
ence, and much observation and inquiry of others, — is to 
milk the cow dry immediately after the calf has sucked 
once, especially if the udder is painfully distended, 
which is often the case, and to leave the calf with the 
14 



158 A THRIFTY START. 

cow during one day, and after that to feed it by putting 
the fingers into its mouth, and gently bringing its 
muzzle down to the milk in a pail or trough, when it 
will imbibe in sucking the fingers. I have never found 
much difficulty in teaching the calf to drink when taken 
so young, though some take to it much more readily 
than others. What the calf does not need should be 
given to the cow. Some, however, prefer to milk 
immediately after calving ; and if the udder is over- 
loaded this may be the best course, though the better 
practice seems to be to leave the cow as quietly to her- 
self as possible for a few hours. The less she is dis- 
turbed, as a general thing, the better. The after-birth 
should be taken from her immediately after it is 
dropped. It is customary to give the cow, as soon as 
convenient, after calving, some warm and stimulating 
drink, — a little meal stirred into warm water, with a 
part of the first milk that comes from her, seasoned 
with a little salt. 

In many cases the calf is taken from the cow imme- 
diately, and before she has seen it, to a warm, dry pen 
out of her sight, and there rubbed till thoroughly dry ; 
and then, when able to stand, fed with the new milk 
from the cow, which it should have three or four times 
a day, regularly, for the first fortnight, whatever course 
it is proposed to adopt afterwards. It is of the great- 
est importance to give the young calf a thrifty start. 
The milk, unless coming directly from the cow, should 
be warmed. 

Some object to removing the calf from the cow in this 
way, on the ground of its apparent cruelty. But the 
objection to letting the calf suckle the coav for several 
days, as they do, or indeed of leaving it with the cow 
for any length of time, is, that she invariably becomes 
attached to it, and frets and withholds her milk when 



HOW THEY DO IN HOLLAND. 159 

it is at last taken from her. She probably suffers a 
great deal more, after this attachment is once formed, 
at the removal of the object of it, than she does at its 
being taken at once out of her sight. The cow's mem- 
ory is far greater than many suppose ; and the. loss and 
injury sustained by removing the calf after it has been 
allowed to suck her for a longer or shorter period is 
never known exactly, because it is not usually known 
how much milk the calf takes ; but it is, without doubt, 
very considerable. If the udder is all right, there seems 
to be no good reason for leaving the calf with the cow 
two or three days, if it is then to be taken away. 

The practice in Holland is to remove the calf from the 
mother even before it has been licked, and to take it 
into one corner of the barn, or into another building, 
out of the cow's sight and hearing, put it upon soft dry 
straw, and rub it dry with some hay or straw, when its 
tongue and gums are slightly rubbed with salt, and the 
mucus and saliva removed from the nostrils and lips. 
After this has been clone, the calf is made to drink the 
milk first taken as it comes from the mother. It is 
slightly diluted with water, if taken last from the udder ; 
but, if the first of the milking, it is given just as it is. 
The calf is taught to drink in the same manner as in 
this country, by putting the fingers in its mouth and 
bringing it down to the milk, and it soon gets so as to 
drink alone. It is fed at first from four to six times 
a day, or even oftener; but soon only three times, 
at regular intervals. Its food for two or three weeks 
is clear milk, as it comes warm and fresh from the 
cow. This is never omitted, as the milk during the 
most of that time possesses certain qualities which are 
necessary to the calf, and which cannot be effectually 
supplied by any other food. In the third or fourth 
week the milk is skimmed, but warmed to the degree 



160 BEGINNING TO EAT. 

of fresh milk ; though, as the calf grows a little older, 
the milk is given cold, while less care is taken to give 
it the milk of its own mother, that of other cows now 
answering equally well. In some places calves are fed 
on butter-milk at the age of two weeks and after ; but 
the change from new milk, fresh from the cow, is made 
gradually, some sweet skim-milk and warm water being 
at first added to it. 

At three weeks old, or thereabouts, the calf will 
begin to eat a little sweet, fine hay, and potatoes cut 
fine, and it very soon becomes accustomed to this food. 
Many now begin to give linseed-meal mixed into hot 
water, to which is added some skim-milk or butter-milk; 
and others use a little bran cooked in hay-tea, made by 
chopping the hay fine, and pouring on boiling hot water, 
which is allowed to stand a while on it. An egg is fre- 
quently broken into such a mixture. Others still at 
this age take pains to have fresh linseed-cake, broken 
into pieces of the size of a pigeon 7 s-egg ; putting one 
of these into the mouth after the meal of milk has been 
finished, and when it is eager to suck at anything in 
its way. It will very soon learn to eat linseed-meal. 
A little sweet clover is put in its way at about the age 
of three weeks, and it will soon eat that also. 

In this manner the feeding is continued from the 
fourth to the seventh week, the quantity of solid food 
being gradually increased. In the sixth or seventh 
week the milk is by degrees withheld, and water or 
butter-milk used instead ; and soon after this, green 
food may be safely given, increasing it gradually with 
the hay to the age of ten or twelve weeks, when it will 
do to put them upon grass alone, if the season is favor- 
able for it. A lot as near the house as possible, where 
they can be easily looked after and frequently visited, 
is best. Calves should be gradually accustomed to all 



A CEUEL PRACTICE. 161 

changes ; and even after being turned to pasture they 
ought to be taken in if the weather is not dry and 
warm. The want of care and attention to these little 
details will be apparent sooner or later ; while, if the 
farmer give his own time to these matters, he will be 
fully paid in the rapid growth of his calves. It is espe- 
cially necessary to see that the troughs from which 
they are fed, if troughs are used, are kept clean and 
sweet. 

But there are some even among intelligent farmers 
who make a practice of turning their calves out to 
pasture at the tender age of two and three weeks, 
and that, too, when they have sucked the cow up to 
that time, and allow them nothing in the shape of 
milk or tender care. I cannot but think that this is the 
poorest possible economy, to say nothing of the cruelty 
of such treatment. The growth of the calf is checked, 
and the system receives a shock from so sudden a 
change, from which it cannot soon recover. The care- 
ful Dutch breeders bring the calves either skimmed milk 
or butter-milk to drink several times a day after they 
are turned to grass, which is not till the age of ten or 
twelve weeks ; and, if the weather is chilly, the milk is 
warmed for them. They put a trough generally under 
a covering, where the calves may come and drink at 
regular times. Thus they are kept tame and docile. 

In the raising of calves, through all stages of their 
growth, great care should be taken neither to starve 
nor to over-feed. A calf should never be surfeited, and 
never be fed so highly that it cannot be fed more highly 
as it advances. The most important point is to keep it 
growing thriftily without getting too fat, if it is to be 
raised for the dairy. 

Mr. Aiton, in describing the mode of rearing calves 
in the dairy districts of Scotland, says : " They are fed on 
14* 11 



162 HOW THEY DO IN SCOTLAND. 

milk, with seldom any admixture ; and they are not per- 
mitted to suckle their dams, but are taught to drink 
milk by the hand from a dish. They are generally fed 
on milk only for the first four, five, or six weeks, and are 
then allowed from two to two and a half quarts of new 
milk each meal, twice in the twenty-four hours. Some 
never give them any other food when young except 
milk, lessening the quantity when the calf begins to 
eat grass or other food, which it generally does 
when about five weeks old, if grass can be had ; and 
withdrawing it entirely about the seventh or eighth 
week of the calf's age. But, if the calf is reared 
in winter, or early in spring, before the grass rises, it 
must be supplied with at least some milk till it is eight 
or nine weeks old ; as a calf will not so soon learn to 
eat hay or straw, nor fare so well on them alone as it 
will do on pasture. Some feed their calves reared for 
stock partly with meal mixed in the milk after the 
third or fourth week. Others introduce gradually some 
new whey among the milk, first mixed with meal ; 
and, when the calf gets older, they withdraw the milk, 
and feed it on whey and porridge. Hay-tea, juices of 
peas and beans, or pea or bean straw, linseed beaten 
into powder, treacle, &c, have all been sometimes used 
to advantage in feeding calves ; but milk, when it can 
be spared, is by far their most natural food. 

" In Galloway, and other pastoral districts, where the 
calves are allowed to suckle, the people are so much 
wedded to their own customs as to argue that suckling is 
much more nutritive to the calves than any other mode 
of feeding. That suckling induces a greater secretion 
of saliva, which, by promoting digestion, accelerates the 
growth and fattening of the young animal, cannot be 
doubted ; but the secretion of that fluid may likewise 
be promoted by placing an artificial teat in the mouth 



FEEDING BY HAND. 163 

of the calf, and giving it the milk slowly, and at the 
natural temperature. In the dairy districts of Scot- 
land, the dairy-maid puts one of her fingers into the 
mouth of the calf, when it is fed, which serves the 
purpose of a teat, and will have nearly the same effect 
as the natural teat, in inducing the secretion of saliva. 
If that, or an artificial teat of leather, be used, and the 
milk given slowly before it is cold, the secretion of sal- 
iva may be promoted to all the extent that can be neces- 
sary; besides, that secretion is not confined to the mere 
period of eating, but, as in the human body, the saliva 
is formed and part of it swallowed at all times. As 
part of the saliva is sometimes seen dropping from the 
mouths of the calves, it might be advisable to give them 
not only an artificial teat, when fed, but to place, as is 
frequently done, a lump of chalk before them to lick, 
thus leading them to swallow the saliva. The chalk 
would so far supply the want of salt, of which cattle 
are so improperly deprived, and it would also promote 
the formation of saliva. Indeed, calves are much dis- 
posed to lick and suckle everything that comes within 
their reach, which seems to be the way that nature 
teaches them to supply their stomachs with saliva. 

" But, though suckling their dams may be most advan- 
tageous in that respect, yet it has also some disadvan- 
tages. The cow is always more injured than the calf is 
benefited, by that mode of feeding. She becomes so 
fond of the calf that she does not, for a long time after, 
yield her milk freely to the dairy-maid. The calf does 
not when young draw off the milk completely, and 
when it is taken off by the hand the cow withholds 
part of her milk ; and, whenever a cow's udder is not 
completely emptied every time she is milked, the lactic 
secretion is thereby diminished. 

" Feeding of calves by the hand is in various other 



164 PATIENCE AND KINDNESS. 

respects advantageous. Instead of depending on the 
uncertain or perhaps precarious supply of the dam, 
which may be more at first than the young animal can 
consume or digest, and at other times too little for its 
supply, its food can, by hand-feeding, be regulated to 
suit the age, appetite, and purposes for which the calf 
is intended ; other admixtures or substitutes can be 
introduced into the milk, and the quantity gradually 
increased or withdrawn at pleasure. This is highly 
necessary when the calves are reared for stock. The 
milk is in that case diminished, and other food intro- 
duced so gradually that the stomach of the young ani- 
mal is not injured as it is when the food is too suddenly 
changed. And, in the case of feeding of calves for the 
butcher, the quantity of milk is not limited to that of 
the dam (for no cow will allow a stranger calf to suckle 
her), but it can be increased, or the richest or poorest 
parts of the milk given, at pleasure.'' 

In these districts, where, probably, the feeding and 
management of calves is as well and judiciously con- 
ducted as in any other part of Britain, the farmers' 
wives and daughters, or female domestics, have the 
principal charge of young calves ; and they are, no 
doubt, much better calculated for this duty than men, 
since they are more inclined to be gentle and patient. 
The utmost gentleness should always be observed in 
the treatment of all stock; but especially of milch cows, 
and calves designed for the dairy. Persevering kind- 
ness and patience will, almost invariably, overcome the 
most obstinate natures; while rough and ungentle hand- 
ling will be repaid in a quiet kind of way, perhaps, by 
withholding the milk, which will always have a tendency 
to dry a cow up ; or, what is nearly as bad, by kicking, 
and other modes of revenge, which often contribute to 
the personal discomfort of the milker. The disposition 



GENTLE TREATMENT. — HAY-TEA. 165 

of the cow is greatly modified, if not, indeed, wholly 
formed, by her treatment while young ; and therefore 
it is best to handle calves as much as possible, and 
make pets of them, lead them with a halter, and caress 
them in various ways. Calves managed in this way 
will always be docile, and suffer themselves to be 
approached and handled both in the pasture and the 
barn. 

With respect to the use of hay-tea, often used in this 
country, but more common abroad, where greater care 
and attention is usually given to the details of breeding, 
Youatt says : " At the end of three or four days, or per- 
haps a loeek, or even a fortnight, after a calf has been 
dropped, and the first passages have been cleansed by 
allowing it to drink as much of the coiv's milk as it feels 
inclined for, let the quantity usually allotted for a meal 
be mixed, consisting, for the first week, of three parts 
milk and one part hay-tea. The only nourishing infu- 
sion of hay is that which is made from the best and siveet- 
est hay, cut by a chaff-cutter into pieces about two inches 
long, ancl put into an earthen vessel ; over this boiling 
water should be poured, and the whole allowed to stand 
for two hours, during which time it ought to be 'kept 
carefully closed. After the first week, the proportions 
of milk and hay-tea may be equal ; then composed of 
two thirds of hay-tea and one of milk ; and at length one 
fourth part of milk will be sufficient. This food should 
be given to the calf in a lukewarm state at least three, 
if not four times a day, in quantities averaging three 
quarts at each meal, but gradually increasing to four 
quarts as the calf grovjs older. Toioards the end of the 
second month, beside the usual quantity given at each 
meal (composed of three parts of the infusion and one 
of milk), a small wisp or bundle of hay is to be laid 
before the calf, which will gradually come to eat it; but, 



166 FIEST CALVES. — RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTS. 

if the weather is favorable, as in the month of May, the 
beast may be turned out to graze in a fine, sweet pas- 
ture, well sheltered from the wind and sun. This diet 
may be continued until towards the latter end of the 
third month, when, if the calf grazes heartily, each meal 
may be reduced to less than a quart of milk, with hay- 
water ; or skimmed milk or fresh butter-milk may be 
substituted for new milk. At the expiration of the 
third month the animal will hardly require to be fed by 
hand, though, if this should still be necessary, one quart 
of the infusion given daily, and which during the sum- 
mer need not be warmed, will be sufficient." The hay- 
tea should be made fresh every two days, as it soon 
loses its nutritious quality. 

This and other preparations are given not because 
they are better than milk, than which nothing is better 
adapted to fatten a calf, or promote its growth, but sim- 
ply to economize by providing the most suitable and 
cheaper substitutes. Experience shows that the first 
two or three calves are smaller than those that follow \ 
and hence, unless they are pure-bred, and to be *kept for 
the blood, they are not generally thought to be so desir- 
able to raise for the dairy as the third or fourth, and 
those that come after, up to the age of nine or ten 
years. On this point opinions differ. 

According to the comparative experiments of a Ger- 
man agriculturist, cows which as calves had been 
allowed to suckle their dams from two to four weeks 
brought calves which weighed only from thirty-five to 
forty-eight pounds ; while others, which, as calves, had 
been allowed to suckle from five to eight weeks, 
brought calves weighing from sixty to eighty pounds. 
It is difficult to see how there can be so great a differ- 
ence, if, indeed, there is any ; but it may be worthy of 
careful observation and experiment, and as such it is 



AFTER-FEEDING. 167 

stated in this connection. The increased size of the 
calf would be due to the larger size to which the cow 
would attain ; and if as a calf she were allowed to run 
with her dam in the pasture four or five months, taking 
all the milk she wanted, she would doubtless be kept 
growing on in a thriving condition. But taking a calf 
from the cow at four or even eight weeks must check 
its growth to some extent, and this may be avoided by 
feeding liberally, and bringing up by hand. 

After the calf is fully weaned, there is nothing very 
peculiar in the general management. A young animal 
"will require for the first few months — say up to the 
age of six months — an average of five or six pounds 
daily of good hay, or its equivalent. At the age of six 
months it will require from four and a half to five 
pounds, and at the end of the year from three and a 
half to four pounds of good hay, or its equivalent, for 
every one hundred pounds of its live weight; or, in 
other words, about three and a half or four per cent, of 
its live weight. At two years old it will require three 
and a half, and some months later three per cent, of 
its live weight daily in good hay or its equivalent. In- 
dian-corn fodder, either green or cured, forms an excel- 
lent and wholesome food at this age. 

The heifer should not be pampered, nor yet poorly 
fed or half starved, so as to receive a check in her 
growth. An abundant supply of good healthy dairy 
food and drink will do all that is necessary up to the 
time of having her first calf, which should not ordinarily 
be till the age of three years, though some choose to 
allow them to come in at two or a little over, on the 
ground that it early stimulates the secretion of milk, 
and that this will increase the milking propensity 
through life. This is undoubtedly the case, as a gen- 
eral rule; but I think greater injury is done by checking 



168 A SUEPEISE. — SUCCULENT FOOD. 

the growth, unless the heifer has been fed up to large 
size and full development from the start, in which case 
she may perhaps take the bull at fifteen or eighteen 
months without injury. I have had several come in as 
early as two years, and one at less than twenty months. 
This last was not by design, however, and I would 
rather have given a considerable sum than had it hap- 
pen, as she was an exceedingly beautiful pure-bred Jer- 
sey, and I was desirous to have her attain to good size 
and growth. Even if a heifer comes in at two years, it 
is generally thought desirable to let her run farrow for 
the following year, which will promote her growth and 
more perfect development. 

The feeding which young stock often get is not such 
as is calculated to make good-sized or valuable cattle of 
them. They are often fed on the poorest of hay or 
straw through the winter, not unfrequently left exposed 
to cold, unprotected and unhoused, and thus stinted in 
their growth. This seems to me to be the very worst 
economy, or rather no economy at all. Properly viewed, 
it is an extravagant wastefulness which no farmer can 
afford. No animal develops its good points under such 
treatment ; and if the starving system is to be followed 
at all, it had better be after the age of two or three 
years, when the animal's constitution has attained 
strength and vigor to resist ill treatment. 

To raise up first-rate milkers, it is absolutely neces- 
sary to feed on dairy food even while young. No 
matter how fine the breed is, if the calf is raised on 
poor, short feed, it will never be so good a milker as if 
raised on better keeping; and hence, in dairy dis- 
tricts, where calves are raised at all, they ought to be 
allowed the best pasture during the summer, and good 
sweet and wholesome food during the winter. 



CHAPTER VI. 

CULTUEE OP GEASSES AND OTHEE PLANTS REC- 
OMMENDED FOE FODDEE. 

As already stated, the grasses in summer, and hay in 
winter, form the most natural and important food for 
milch cows ; and, whatever other crops come in as ad- 
ditional, these will form the basis of all systems of 
feeding. 

The nutritive qualities of the grasses differ widely ; 
and their value as feed for cows will depend, to a con- 
siderable extent, on the management of pastures and 
mowing-lands. 

If the turf of an old pasture is carefully examined, it 
will be found to contain a large variety of grasses and 
plants adapted for forage ; some of them valuable for 
one purpose, and some for another. Some of them, 
though possessing a lower percentage of nutritive 
constituents than others, are particularly esteemed for 
an early and luxuriant growth, furnishing a sweet feed 
in early spring, before other grasses appear ; some of 
them, for starting more rapidly than others, after being 
eaten off by cattle, and consequently of great value as 
pasture grasses. Most grasses will be found to be of a 
social character, and to do best in a large mixture with 
other varieties. 

In forming a mixture for pasture grasses, the pecu- 
liarities of each species should, therefore, be regarded : 
15 



170 CULTIVATED GRASSES. — TIMOTHY. 

as the time of flowering, the habits of growth, the soil 
and location on which it grows best, and other charac- 
teristics. Among the grasses found on cultivated 
lands, in this country, the following are considered as 
among the most valuable for ordinary farm cultivation; 
some of them adapted to pastures, and others almost 
exclusively to mowing and the hay crop : Timothy 
(Phleum pratense). Meadow Foxtail (Alopecurus pra- 
tensis). June, or Kentucky Blue Grass (Poa pratensis). 
Fowl meadow (Poa serotina). Rough-stalked Meadow 
(Poa trivialis). Orchard Grass (Dactylis glomerata). 
Perennial Rye Grass (Lolium pere?me). Italian Rye 
Grass (Lolium italicum). Recltop (Agrostis vulgaris). 
English Bent (Agrostis alba). Meadow Fescue (Fes- 
tuca pratensis). Tall Oat Grass ( Arrlienatherum aven- 
aceum). Sweet-scented Yernal (Anthoxanthemum odor- 
atum). Hungarian Grass (Panicum Germanicum). 
Red Clover (Trifolium pratense). White or Dutch 
Clover (Trifolium repens), and some others. 

Of these, the most valuable, all things considered, is the 
first, or Timothy (Fig. 5G). It forms a large proportion 
of what is commonly called English, or in some sections 
meadow hay, though it originated and was first culti- 
vated in this country. It contains a large percentage 
of nutritive matter, in comparison with other agricul- 
tural grasses. It thrives best on moist, peaty, or loamy 
soils, of medium tenacity, and is not well suited to very 
light, sandy lands. On very moist soils its root is 
almost always fibrous ; while on dry and loamy ones it is 
bulbous. On soils of the former description, which it 
especially affects, its growth is rapid, and its yield of 
hay large, sometimes amounting to three and four tons 
to the acre, depending much, of course, on cultivation. 
But, though very valuable for hay, it is not adapted to 
pastures, as it will neither endure severe grazing, nor 



TIMOTHY. — JUNE GRASS. 



171 




Kg. 56. Timothy grass. Fig. 57. June grass. 

is its aftermath to be compared with meadow foxtail, 
and some of the other grasses. 



172 JUNE GRASS. — MEADOW FOXTAIL. 

June grass (Fig. 57), better known in some sections as 
Kentucky Blue grass, is very common in most sections 
of the country, especially on limestone lands, forming a 
large part of the turf, wherever it flourishes, and being 
universally esteemed as a pasture grass. It starts early, 
but varies much in size and appearance, according to 
the soil; growing in some places with the utmost luxuri- 
ance, and forming the predominant grass ; in others, 
yielding to the other species. If cut at the time of 
flowering, or a few days after, it makes a good and 
nutritive hay, though it is surpassed in nutritive quali- 
ties by several of the other grasses. It starts slowly 
after being cut, especially if not cut very early. But 
its herbage is fine and uniform, and admirably adapted 
to lawns, growing well in almost all soils, though it does 
not endure very severe droughts. It withstands, how- 
ever, the frosts of winter better than most other grasses. 

In Kentucky, a section where it attains its high- 
est perfection and luxuriance, ripening its seed about 
the 10th of June, and in latitudes south of that, it some- 
times continues green through the mild winters. It 
requires three or four years to become well set, after 
sowing, and it does not attain its highest yield as a pas- 
ture grass till the sod is even older than that. It is 
not, therefore, suited to alternate husbandry, where 
land usually remains in grass but two or three years 
before being ploughed up. In Kentucky it is sown 
any time in winter when the shoav is on the ground, 
three or four quarts of seed being used to the acre. 
In spring the seeds germinate, when the sprouts are 
exceedingly fine and delicate. Stock is not allowed on 
it the first year. 

The MeadowFoxtail (Fig. 58) is also an excellent pas- 
ture grass. It somewhat resembles Timothy, but is ear- 
lier, has a softer spike, and thrives on all soils except the 



PASTUEE GRASSES. 



173 




Fig. 59. Orchard grass. 



Fig. 58. Meadow Foxtail. 

diyest. Its growth is rapid, and it is greatly relished by 
stock of all kinds. Its stalk and leaves are too few and 
light for a field crop, and it shrinks too much in curing to 
15* 



174 OECHAED GEASS. — QUALITIES. 

be valuable for hay. It flourishes best in a rich, moist, 
and rather strong soil, sending up a luxuriant aftermath 
when, cut or grazed off, which is much more valuable, 
both in quantity and nutritive value, than the first crop. 
In all lands designed for permanent pasture, therefore, 
it should form a considerable part of a mixture. It will 
endure almost any amount of forcing, by liquid manures, 
or irrigation. It requires three or four years, after 
sowing, to gain a firm footing in the soil. The seed is 
covered with the soft and woolly husks of the flower, 
and is consequently light ; weighing but five pounds to 
the bushel, and containing seventy-six thousand seeds to 
the ounce. 

The Oechaed geass, or Rough Cocksfoot (Fig.59),for 
pastures, stands preeminent. This is a native of this coun- 
try, and was introduced into England, from Virginia, in 
1764, since which time its cultivation has extended into 
every country of Europe, where it is universally held 
in very high estimation. The fact of its being very palata- 
ble to stock of all kinds, its rapidity of growth, and the 
luxuriance of its aftermath, with its power of enduring 
the cropping of cattle, have given it a very high reputa- 
tion, especially as a pasture grass. It blossoms earlier 
than Timothy ; when green is equally relished by milch 
cows ; requires to be fed closer, to prevent its forming 
tufts and growing up to seed, when it becomes hard and 
wiry, and loses much of its nutritive quality. As it 
blossoms about the same time, it forms an admirable 
mixture with red clover, either for permanent pasture 
or mowing. It resists drought, and is less exhausting 
to the soil than either rye grass or Timothy. The 
seed weighs twelve pounds to the bushel, and when 
sown alone requires about two bushels to the acre. 

The Rough-stalked Meadow geass (Fig. 60) is some- 
what less common than June grass, but is considered as 



ROUGH-STALKED MEADOW GRASS. 175 




Fig. 60. Bough-stalked Meadow grass. Tig. 61. Bye grass. 

equally valuable. It grows best on moist, sheltered mead- 
ows, where it flowers in June and July. It is easily dis- 



176 FOWL MEADOW. 

tinguished from June grass, by having a rough sheath, 
while the latter has a smooth one, and by having a fibrous 
root, while the root of June grass is creeping. It 
possesses very considerable nutritive qualities, and 
comes to perfection at a desirable time ; is exceed- 
ingly relished by cattle, horses, and sheep. For suitable 
soils it should form a portion of a mixture of seeds, pro- 
ducing, in mixture with other grasses which serve to 
shelter it, a large yield of hay, far above the average of 
grass usually grown on a similar soil. It should be cut 
when the seed is formed. Seven pounds of seed to 
the acre will produce a good sward. The grass loses 
about seventy per cent, of its weight in drying. The 
nutritive qualities of its aftermath exceed very consid- 
erably those of the crop cut in the flower or in the 
seed. 

Fowl Meadow grass is another indigenous species, 
of great value for low and marshy grounds, where it 
flourishes best ; and, if. cut and properly cured, makes 
a sweet and nutritious hay, which, from its fineness, is 
eaten by cows without Avaste. According to Sinclair, 
who experimented, with the aid of Sir Humphrey Davy, 
to ascertain its comparative nutritive properties, it is 
superior, in this respect, to either meadow foxtail, 
orchard grass, or tall meadow oat grass ; but it is 
probable that he somewhat overrates it. If allowed to 
stand till nearly ripe, it falls down, but sends up innu- 
merable flowering stems from the joints, so that it con- 
tinues green and luxuriant till late in the season. It 
thrives best in mixture with other grasses, and deserves 
a prominent place in all mixtures for rich, moist pastures, 
and low mowing-lands. 

Rye geass (Fig. 61) has a far higher reputation abroad 
than in this country, and probably with reason ; for it is 
better adapted to a wet and uncertain climate than to a 



ITALIAN RYE GRASS. — REDTOP. 177 

dry and hot one. It varies exceedingly, depending much 
on soil and culture ; but, when cut in the blossom to 
make into hay, it possesses very considerable nutritive 
power. If allowed to get too ripe, it is hard and wiry, 
and not relished by cows. The change from a juicy 
and nutritious plant to woody fibre, possessing but 
little soluble matter, is very rapid. Properly managed, 
however, it is a tolerably good grass, though not to be 
compared to Timothy, or orchard grass. 

Italian Rye grass (Fig. 62) has also been cultivated to 
considerable extent in this country, but with less satisfac- 
tory results than are obtained from it in Europe, where it 
endures all climates, giving better crops, both in quan- 
tity and quality, than the perennial rye grass. It is one 
of the greatest gluttons of all the grasses, and luxu- 
riates in frequent irrigation with liquid manure, though 
it is said to stand the drought very well. The soils 
best adapted to it are rich, moist, and fertile, of medium 
tenacity; and it is admirably adapted to the purposes of 
soiling, as it endures repeated cutting, rapidly sending 
up luxuriant crops. For rich soils near the barn, used 
for the growth of crops for soiling, therefore, it may be 
confidently used as a profitable addition to our list of 
cultivated grasses. 

Redtop (Fig. 63) is a grass familiar to every farmer in 
the country. It is the Herd's grass of Pennsylvania, while 
in New York and New England it is known by a great 
variety of names, and assumes a great variety of forms, 
according to the soil in which it grows. It is well 
adapted to almost every soil, though it seems to prefer 
a moist loam. It makes a profitable crop for spending, 
in the form of hay, though its yield is less than that of 
Timothy. It is well suited to our permanent pastures, 
where it should be fed close, otherwise it becomes 
wiry and innutritions, and cattle refuse it. It stands 

12 



178 



ITALIAN RYE GRASS. 





— s_^* 
Fig. 62. Italian llye grass. Pig. 63. Redtop. 

the climate of the country as well as any other grass, 
and so forms a valuable part of any mixture for 



ENGLISH BENT. — MEADOW FESCUE. 179 




Fig. 64. English Bent. Fig. 65. Meadow Fescue. 

pastures and permanent mowing-lands ; but it is prob- 
ably rather overrated by us. 



180 TALL OAT GRASS. 

English Bent (Pig. 64), known also by a great variety 
of other names, is also largely cultivated in some sec- 
tions. It closely resembles redtop, but may be dis- 
tinguished from it by the roughness of the sheaths 
when the hand is drawn from above downwards. It 
possesses much the same qualities as redtop. 

Meadow Fescue (Fig. 65) is one of the most common of 
the fescue grasses, and is said to be the Randall grass of 
Virginia. It is an excellent pasture grass, forming a 
very considerable portion of the turf of old pastures and 
fields ; and is more extensively propagated and diffused 
by the fact that it ripens its seeds before most other 
grasses are cut, and sheds them to spring up and cover 
the ground. Its long and tender leaves are much 
relished by cattle. It is rarely sown in this country, 
notwithstanding its great and acknowledged value as a 
pasture grass. If sown at all, it should be in mixture 
with other grasses, as orchard grass, rye grass, or June 
grass. It is of much greater value at the time of 
flowering than when the seed is ripe. 

The Tall Oat grass (Fig. 6Q) is the Ray grass of 
France. It furnishes a luxuriant supply of foliage, 
is valuable either for hay or for pasture, and has been 
especially recommended for soiling purposes, on ac- 
count of its early and luxuriant growth. It is often 
found on the borders of fields and hedges, woods and 
pastures, and is sometimes very plenty in mowing-lands. 
After being mown it shoots up a very thick aftermath, 
and on this account, partly, is regarded as nearly equal 
for excellence to the common foxtail. 

It grows spontaneously on deep, sandy soils, when 
once naturalized. It has been cultivated to a consider- 
able extent in this country, and is esteemed by those 
who know it mainly for its early, rapid, and late growth, 



TALL OAT. — SWEET VERNAL. 



181 




f*,.,. 



Ftg. 66. Tall Oat grass. Fig. 67. Sweet-scented Vernal. 

making it very well calculated as a permanent pasture 
grass. It will succeed on tenacious clover soils. 
16 



182 HUNGARIAN GRASS. 

The Sweet-scented Vernal grass (Fig. 67) is one of 
the earliest in spring and one of the latest in autumn ; 
and this habit of growth is one of its chief excellences, 
as it is neither a nutritious grass nor very palatable to 
stock of any kind, nor does it yield a very good crop. 
It is very common all over New England and the 
Middle States, coming into old worn-out fields and moist 
pastures spontaneously, and along every roadside. It 
derives its name from its sweetness of smell when par- 
tially wilted, or crushed in the hand, and it is this chiefly 
that gives the delicious fragrance to all neAv-mown hay. 
It is almost the only grass that possesses a strongly- 
marked aromatic odor, which is imparted to other 
grasses with which it is cured. Its seed weighs eight 
pounds to the bushel. In mixtures for permanent pas- 
tures it may be of some value. 

Hungarian grass, or Millet (Fig. 68), is an annual forage 
plant, introduced into France in 1815, and more recently 
into this country. It germinates readily and with stands 
the drought remarkably, remaining green when other 
grasses are parched and dried up. It has numerous 
succulent leaves, which furnish an abundance of sweet 
fodder, greatly relished by stock of all kinds. It 
attains its greatest luxuriance on soils of medium con- 
sistency and richness, but does very well on light and 
dry plains. 

Red Clover (Fig. 69) is an artificial grass of the legu- 
minous family, and one of the most valuable of culti- 
vated plants for feeding to dairy cows. It flourishes 
best on tenacious soils and stiff loams. Its growth is 
rapid, and a few months after sowing are sufficient to 
supply an abundant sweet and nutritious food. In the 
climate of New England clover should be sown in the 
spring of the year, while most of the natural grasses do 
far better sown in the fall. It is often sown with per- 



CLOVER. — HUNGARIAN GRASS, 



18' 




Fig. 63. Red Clover. 



Fig. 68. Hungarian grass. 



feet success on the late snows of March or April, and 
soon finds its way down into the soil and takes a vigor- 



184 



MIXTURE OF GRASS-SEEDS. 



cms root. It is valuable not only as a forage plant, but 
as shading the ground, and thereby increasing its 
fertility. 

The introduction of clover among the cultivated 
plants of the farm has done more, perhaps, for modern 
agriculture than that of any other single plant. It has 
now come to be considered indispensable in all good 
dairy districts. 




Fig. 70. White Clover. 



White Clover (Fig. 70), often called Honeysuckle, is 
also widely diffused over this country, to which it is 
undoubtedly indigenous. As a mixture in all pasture 
grasses it holds a very high rank, as it is exceedingly 
sweet and nutritious, and relished by stock of all kinds. 
It grows most luxuriantly in moist grounds and moist 
seasons, but easily accommodates itself to a great 
variety of circumstances. 

With respect to the mixtures of grass-seeds most 
profitable for the dairy farmer, no universal rule can 
be given, as they depend very much upon the nature 
of the soil and the locality. The most important point 
to be observed, and one in which we, as a body, are 
perhaps most deficient, is to use a large number of 
species, with smaller quantities of each than those most 
commonly used. This is nature's rule ; for, in examin- 



nature's rule. 



185 



ing the turf of a rich old pasture, we shall find a large 
number of different species growing together, while, if 
we examine the turf of a field sown with only one or 
two different species, we find a far less number of plants 
to the square foot, even after the sod is fairly set. No 
improvement in grass culture is more important, it 
seems to me. I have suggested, in another place, a 
large number of mixtures adapted to the different 
varieties of soil and circumstance, together with the 
reasons for the mixture in many instances. (See A 
Practical Treatise on Grasses and Forage Plants, com- 
prising their Natural History, Comparative Nutritive 
Value, Methods of Cultivating, Cutting, and Curing, and 
the Management of Grass Lands, &c. 236 pp. 8vo., with 
illustrations.) As an instance of what I should consider 
an improvement on our ordinary mixtures for permanent 
pastures, I would suggest the following as likely to 
give satisfactory results, dependent, of course, to a con- 
siderable extent, on the nature and preparation of the 
soil: 



Meadow Foxtail, flowering in May and June 

Orchard Grass, " " " " " 

Sweet-scented Vernal, " 

Meadow Fescue, " 

Redtop, " 

June Grass, " 

Italian Rye Grass, " 

Perennial Rye Grass, " 

Timothy, " 



" April and May, 

" May and June, 

" June and July, .... 2 

" May and June, .... 4 

" June, 4 

" June, 6 

" June and July, 

Rough-stalked Meadow Grass, flowering in June and July, 2 ' 

Perennial Clover, flowering in June, 3 ' 

White Clover, " " May to September, . . 5-40 



2 pounds. 
6 " 



For mowing-lands the mixture would, of course, be 
eomeAvhat changed. The meadow foxtail and sweet- 
scented vernal would be left out entirely, and some six 
or eight pounds added to the Timothy and red clover. 
16* 



186 WHEN TO CUT GBASS FOE COWS. 

The proper time to lay down lands to grass in the lati- 
tude of New England is August or September, and no 
grain crop should be sown with the seed. 

Stiff or clayey pastures should never be over- 
stocked, but when fed pretty close the grasses are 
far sweeter and more nutritious than when they are 
allowed to grow up rank and coarse ; and if, by a want 
of sufficient feeding, they get the start of the stock, and 
grow into rank tufts, they should be cut and removed, 
when a fresh grass will start up, similar to the after- 
math of mowing-lands, which will be greedily eaten. 
Grasses for curing into hay should be cut either at the 
time of flowering or just before, especially if designed 
for milch cows. They are then more succulent and 
juicy, and, if properly cured, form the sweetest food. 

Grass cut in the blossom will make more milk than if 
allowed to stand later. Cut a little before the blossom- 
ing, it will make more than when in the blossom; and 
the cows prefer it, which is by no means an unimportant 
consideration, since their tastes should always be con- 
sulted. Grass cut somewhat green, and properly cured, 
is next to fresh, green grass in palatable and nutritive 
qualities. And so a sensible practical farmer writes 
me : " The time of cutting grass depends very much 
upon the use you wish to make of it. If for working 
oxen and horses, I would let it stand till a little out of 
the blossom ; but if to feed out to new milch cows in 
the winter, I would prefer to cut it very green. It is 
then Avorth for the making of milk in the winter almost 
double that cut later." Every farmer knoAvs the milk- 
producing properties of roAven, Avhich is generally cut 
before it blossoms. 

No operation on the farm is of greater importance 
to the dairyman than the cutting of his grass and 
the manner of curing hay, and in this respect the 



HAY OVER-CUEED. — CUEING CLOVEE. 187 

practice over the country generally is susceptible of 
very great improvement. The chief object is to pre- 
serve the sweetness and succulence of grass in its 
natural state, so far as it is possible ; and this object 
cannot be gained by exposing it too long to the scorch- 
ing suns and the drenching rains to which we are 
liable in this climate. We generally try to make our 
hay too much. 

As to the best modes of curing clover, my own 
experience and observation accord with that of several 
practical farmers, who write me as follows : " My 
method of curing clover is this : What is mown in the 
morning I leave in the swath, to be turned over early 
in the afternoon. At about four o'clock, or while it is 
still warm, I put it into small cocks with a fork, and, if 
the weather ' is favorable, it may be housed on the 
fourth or fifth day, the cocks being turned over on the 
morning of the day it is to be carted. By so doing all 
the heads and leaves are saved, and these are worth 
more than the stems. This has been my method for 
the last ten years. For new milch cows in the winter 
I think there is nothing better. It will make them give 
as great a flow of milk as any hay, unless it be good 
rowen." Another says : " When the weather bids fair 
to be good, I mow it after the dew is off, and cock it 
up after being wilted, using the fork instead of rolling 
with the rake, and let it remain several days, when it is 
fit to put into the barn." And another : " I mow my 
clover in the forenoon, and towards night of the same 
day I take forks and pitch it into cocks and let it stand 
till it cures. The day I cart it, I turn the cocks over, 
so as to air the lower part. I then put it into the mow 
with all the leaves and heads on, and it is as nice and 
green as green tea. I think it worth for milch cows 
and sheep as much per ton as English hay." And still 



188 INDIAN-CORN FODDER. 

another : " I have found no better hay for farm stock 
than good clover, cut in season. For milch coavs it is 
much better than Timothy. The rowen crop is better 
than any other for calves." 

Indian Corn makes an exceedingly valuable fodder, 
both as a means of carrying a herd of milch cows 
through our severe droughts of summer, and as an 
article for soiling cows kept in the stall. No dairy 
farmer will neglect to sow an extent in proportion to 
the number of cows he keeps. The most common 
practice is to sow in drills from two and a half to three 
feet apart, on land well tilled and thoroughly manured, 
making the drills from six to ten inches wide with the 
plough, manuring in the furrow, dropping the corn about 
two inches apart, and covering with the hoe. In this 
mode of culture the cultivator may be used between 
the rows when the corn is from six to twelve inches 
high, and unless the ground is very weedy no other 
after culture is generally needed. The first sowing 
usually takes place about the 20th of May, and this is 
succeeded by other sowings at intervals of a week or 
ten days, till July, in order to have a succession of 
green fodder. But, if it is designed to cut it up to cure 
for winter use, an early sowing is generally preferred, 
in order to be able to cure it in warm weather, in 
August or early in September. Sown in this way, 
about three or four bushels of corn are required for an 
acre, since, if sown thickly, the fodder is better, the 
stalks smaller, and the waste less. 

The chief difficulty in curing corn cultivated for this 
purpose, and after the methods spoken of, arises mainly 
from the fact that it comes at a season when the 
weather is often colder, the days shorter, and the clews 
heavier, than when the curing of hay takes place. Nor 
is the curing of corn cut up green so easy and simple 



STOOKING. — MILLET CULTURE. 189 

as that of drying the stalks of Indian corn cut above 
the ear, as in our common practice of topping. The 
plant is then riper, less juicy, and cures more readily. 

The method sometimes adopted is to cut and tie 
into small bundles, after it is somewhat wilted, and 
stook upon the ground, where it is allowed to stand, 
subject to all the changes of the weather, with only the 
protection of the stook itself. The stooks consist of 
bunches of stalks first bound in small bundles, and are 
made sufficiently large to prevent the wind from blow- 
ing them over. The arms are thrown around the tops 
to bring them together as closely as possible, when the 
tops are broken over or twisted together, or otherwise 
fastened, in order to make the stook " shed the rain " as 
well as possible. In this condition they stand out till 
sufficiently dried to put into the barn. Corn fodder is 
very excellent for young dairy stock. 

Common Millet (Panicum miliaceum) is another 
very valuable crop for fodder in soiling, or to cure for 
winter use, but especially to feed out during our usual 
periods of drought. Many varieties of millet are culti- 
vated in this country, the ground being prepared and 
treated as for oats. If designed to cut for green 
fodder, half a bushel of seed to the acre should be used; 
if to ripen seed, twelve quarts, sown broad-cast, about 
the last of May or early in June. A moist loam or 
muck is the best adapted to millet ; but I have seen 
very great crops grown on dry upland. It is very 
palatable and nutritious for milch cows, both green and 
when properly cured. The curing should be very 
much like clover, care being taken not to over-dry it. 
For fodder, either green or cured, it is cut before 
ripening. In this state all cattle eat it as readily as 
green corn, and a less extent will feed them. Millet is 
worthy of a widely-extended cultivation, particularly on 



190 EYE. — OATS. — EOOT CEOPS. 

dairy farms. Indian millet [Sorghum vulgar e) is another 
cultivated variety. 

Eye, as a fodder plant, is chiefly valuable for its 
early growth in spring. It is usually sown in Septem- 
ber or October, from the middle to the end of Sep- 
tember being, perhaps, the most desirable time, on 
land previously cultivated and in good condition. If 
designed to ripen only, a bushel of seed is required to 
the acre, evenly sown ; but, if intended for early fodder 
in spring, two or two and a half bushels per acre of 
seed should be used. On warm land the rye can be cut 
green the last of April or first of May ; and care should 
be taken to cut early, as, if allowed to advance too 
far towards maturity, the stalk becomes hard and un- 
palatable to cows. 

Oats are also sometimes used for soiling, or for feed- 
ing green, to eke out a scanty supply of pasture feed ; 
and for this purpose they are valuable. They should 
be sown on well-tilled and well-manured land, about 
four bushels to the acre, towards the last of April or 
first of May. If the whole crop is to be used as green 
fodder, five bushels of seed will not be too much on 
strong, good soil. They will be sufficiently grown to 
cut by the first of July, or in some sections earlier, 
depending on location. 

The Chinese Sugar-Cane also may deserve atten- 
tion as a fodder plant. Experiments hitherto made 
seem to show that when properly cultivated, and cut at 
the right time, it is a palatable and nutritious plant, 
while many of the failures have been the result of too 
early cutting. For a fodder crop the drill culture is 
preferable, both on account of the larger yield obtained 
and to prevent it from becoming too hard and stalky. 

The Potato (Solatium tuberosum) is the first of 
the root crops to be mentioned. This produces a large 



CULTURE OF THE POTATO. 191 

quantity of milk, though the quality is inferior. The 
market value of this root is, at the present time, too 
great to allow of feeding extensively with it, even in 
milk-dairies, where it is most valuable as food for cows; 
still, there are locations where it may be judicious to 
cultivate this root for dairy feed, and in all circum- 
stances there is a certain portion of the crop of un- 
marketable size, which will be of value fed to milch 
cows or swine. It should be planted in April or May, 
but in many sections in June, on good mellow soil, first 
thoroughly ploughed and harrowed, then furrowed three 
feet apart, and manured in the furrows with a mixture 
of ashes, plaster of Paris, and salt. The seed may be 
dropped in the furrows, one foot apart, after the drill 
system, or in hills, two and a half or three feet apart, 
to be covered with the plough by simply turning 
the furrows back, after which the whole should be 
rolled with the field roller, where it can be done. 

If the land is not already in good heart from 
continued cultivation, a few loads of barn-yard manure 
may be spread, and ploughed under by the first 
ploughing. Used in this way, it is far less liable to 
cause the rot than when put in the hill. If a sufficient 
quantity of wood-ashes is not at hand, sifted coal- 
ashes will answer the purpose, and are said to be 
valuable as a preventive of the rot. In this way one 
man, two boys, and a horse, can plant from three to 
four acres a day on mellow land. I have planted 
two acres a day on the sod, the manure being first 
spread on the grass, a furrow made by a yoke of oxen 
and one man, another following after and dropping, a 
foot apart, along the outer edge of the furrow on the 
grass. By quick work, one hand can nearly keep up 
with the plough in dropping. When arrived at the 
end of the piece, a back furrow is turned up to the 



192 CULTUKE OF THE CARBOT. 

potatoes, and a good ploughman will cover nearly all 
without difficulty. On the return-furrow the man or 
boy who dropped follows after, covering up any that 
may be left or displaced, and smoothing off the top 
of the back-furrows where necessary. Potatoes thus 
planted came out as fine as I ever saw any. 

The cost of cultivation in this mode, it must be 
evident, is but trifling compared with the slower 
method of hand-planting. The plan will require a skil- 
ful ploughman, a quick, active lad, and a good yoke 
of oxen, and the extent of the work will depend 
somewhat on the state of the turf. The nutritive 
equivalent in potatoes for one hundred pounds of good 
hay is 3.19 pounds ; that is, it will take 3.19 pounds of 
potatoes to afford the same amount of nourishment 
as one pound of hay. The great value of roots is as a 
change or condiment, calculated to keep the animal in 
a healthy condition. 

The Caerot (Daucus carota) is somewhat exten- 
sively fed, and is a valuable root for milch cows. This, 
like the potato, has been cultivated and improved from 
a wild plant. Carrots require a deep, warm, mellow 
soil, thoroughly cultivated, but clean and free from 
weed-seed. The difference between a very good profit 
and a loss on the crop depends much on the use of 
land and manures perfectly free from foul seeds of 
any kind. Ashes, guano, sea-weed, ground bone, and 
other similar substances, or thoroughly-rotted and 
fermented compost, will answer the purpose. 

After ploughing deep, and harrowing carefully, the 
seed should be sown with a seed-sower, in drills about 
eighteen inches apart, at the rate of four pounds to 
the acre, about the middle or twentieth of May. The 
difference between sowing the fifteenth of May and the 
tenth of June in New England is said to be nearly one 



ECONOMIZE LABOR. — HARVESTING. 193 

third in the crop on an average of years. In weeding, a 
little wheel-hoe is invaluable, as with it a large part of 
the labor of cultivation is saved. A skilful hand can 
run this hoe within half an inch of the young plants 
without injury, and go over a large space in the course 
of a day, if the land was properly prepared in the first 
place. 

The American farmer should always plan to economize 
labor. That is the great item of expense on the farm. 
I do not mean that he should try to shirk or avoid work, 
but that he should make the least amount of work 
accomplish the largest and most profitable results. 
Labor-saving machinery on the farm is applied not to 
reduce the number of hours' labor, or to make the 
owner a man of leisure, — who is, generally, the unhap- 
piest man in the world, — but to enable him to accom- 
plish the greatest results in the same time that he 
would be compelled to labor to obtain smaller ones. 

Carrots will continue to grow and increase in size 
late into the fall. When ready to dig, plough around 
as near to the outside rows as possible, turning the fur- 
row away from the row. Then take out the carrots, 
pulling off the tops, and throw the carrots and tops 
into separate heaps on the ploughed furrows. In this 
way a man and two boys can harvest and put into the 
cellar over a hundred bushels a day. 

The Turnip (Brassica rapa) and the Swedish tur- 
nip or ruta baga (Brassica cam/pestris) are also largely 
cultivated as a field crop to feed to stock ; and for this 
purpose numberless varieties are used, furnishing a 
great amount of succulent and nutritious food, late into 
winter, and, if well kept, late into spring. The chief 
objection to the turnip is that it taints the milk. This 
may be remedied, to a considerable extent, if not wholly, 
by the use of salt, or salt hay, and by feeding at the 
17 13 



194 CULTUKE OF TURNIPS. 

time of milking, or immediately after, or by steaming 
before feeding, or putting a small quantity of the solu- 
tion of nitre into the pail, and milking upon it. 

Turnips may be sown any time in June, in rich land, 
well mellowed by cultivation. Very large crops are often 
obtained sown as late as the middle of July, or first of 
August, on an inverted sod. The Michigan or double- 
mould-board plough leaves the land light, and in admira- 
ble condition to harrow, and drill in turnips. A success- 
ful root-grower last year cut two tons of hay to the 
acre, on the 23d of June, and after it was removed from 
the land spread eight cords of rotten kelp to the acre, 
and ploughed in ; after which about three cords of fine 
old compost manure were used to the acre, which was 
sown with ruta baga seed, in drills, three feet apart, 
plants thinned to eight or ten inches in the drill. No 
after cultivation was required. On the 15th of Novem- 
ber he harvested three hundred and seventy bushels of 
splendid roots to the acre, carefully measured off. 

The nutritive equivalent of Swedish turnips as com- 
pared with good meadow hay is 676, taking hay as a 
standard at 100 ; that is, it would require 6.76 lbs. of 
turnips to furnish the same nutriment as one pound of 
good hay ; but, fed in connection with other food, as 
hay, for instance, perhaps five pounds of turnips would 
be about equal to one pound of hay. 

The English or round turnip is usually sown broad- 
cast after some other crop, and large and valuable re- 
turns are often obtained. The Swede is sown in drills. 
Both these varieties are used for the production of milk. 

The chief objection to the turnip crop is that it 
leaves many kinds of soil unfit for a succession of some 
other crops, like Indian corn, for instance. In some 
sections no amount of manuring appears to make corn 
do well after turnips or ruta bagas. 



MANGOLDS. — PARSNIPS. 195 

The Mangold Wurzel, a variety of the Beta vul- 
garis, is often cultivated with great success in this 
country, and fed to cows with advantage, furnishing a 
succulent and nutritive food in winter and spring. The 
crop is somewhat uncertain. When it does well an 
enormous yield is often obtained ; but it often proves a 
failure, and is not, on the whole, quite as reliable as the 
ruta baga, though a more valuable crop when the yield 
is good. It is cultivated like the common beet, in moist, 
rich soils, three pounds of seed to the acre. The leaves 
may be stripped off, towards fall, and fed out, without 
injury to the growth of the root. Both mangolds and 
turnips should be cut with a root-cutter, before being- 
fed out. 

The Parsnip {Pastinaca sativa) is a very sweet and 
nutritive article of fodder, and adds richness and flavor 
to the milk. It is worthy of extended culture in all 
parts of this country where dairy husbandry is pur- 
sued. It is a biennial, easily raised on deep, rich, well- 
cultivated and well-manured soils, often yielding enor- 
mous crops, and possessing the advantage of withstand- 
ing the severest winters. As an article of spring feed- 
ing, therefore, it is exceedingly valuable. Sown in 
April or May, it attains a large growth before winter. 
Then, if desirable, a part of the crop may be harvested 
for winter use, and the remainder left in the ground till 
the frost is out, in March or April, when they can be 
dug as wanted, and are exceedingly relished by milch 
cows, and stock of all kinds. They make an admirable 
feed at the time of milking, and produce the richest 
cream, and the yellowest and finest-flavored butter, of 
any root with which I am acquainted. The good dairy 
farmers on the island of Jersey often feed to their 
cows from thirty to thirty-five pounds of parsnips a 
day, in addition to hay or grass. 



196 THE PAESNIP. — KOHL EABI. 

Both practical experiment and scientific analysis 
prove this root to be eminently adapted to dairy stock, 
where the richness of milk or fine-flavored butter is any 
object. For mere milk-dairies, it is not quite so valua- 
ble, probably, as the Swedish turnip. The culture is 
similar to that of carrots, a rich, mellow, and deep 
loam being best; while it has a great advantage over the 
carrot in being more hardy, and rather less liable to 
injury from insects, and more nutritive. For feeding 
and fattening stock it is eminently adapted. 

To be sure of a crop, fresh seed must be had, as it 
cannot be depended on more than one year. For this 
reason, the largest and straightest roots should be 
allowed to stand for seed, .which, as soon as nearly ripe, 
should be taken off and spread out to dry, and carefully 
kept for use. For field culture the hollow-crowned 
parsnip is the best and most profitable ; but on thin, 
shallow soils the turnip-rooted variety should be used. 
Parsnips may be harvested like carrots, by ploughing 
along the rows. Let butter or cheese dairymen give 
this crop a fair and full trial, and watch its effect on the 
quality of the milk and butter. 

The Kohl Eabi (Brassica oleracea, var. caidorapa) is 
also cultivated to a considerable extent in this country, 
to feed to stock. It is supposed to be a hybrid between 
the cabbage and the turnip, and is often called the cab- 
bage-turnip, having the root of the former, with a tur- 
nip-like or bulbous stem. The special reason for its 
more extensive cultivation among us is its wonderful 
indifference to droughts, in which it seems to flourish 
best, and to bring forth the most luxuriant crops. It 
also withstands the frosts remarkably, being a hardy 
plant. It yields a somewhat richer quality of milk than 
the ordinary turnip, and the crop is generally admitted 
to be as abundant and profitable. I have seen very 



LINSEED AND COTTON-SEED MEAL. 197 

large crops of it produced by the ordinary turnip or 
cabbage cultivation. As in cabbage culture, it is best 
to sow the seed in March or April, in a warm and well- 
enriched seed-bed ; from which it is transplanted in 
May, and set out after the manner of cabbages in gar- 
den culture. It bears transplanting better than most 
other roots. Insects injure it less than the turnip, dry 
weather favors it, and it keeps well through the winter. 
For these reasons, it must be regarded as a valuable 
addition to our list of forage plants adapted to dairy 
farming. It grows well on stronger soils than the 
turnip. 

Linseed Meal is the ground cake of flax-seed, after 
the oil is pressed out. It is very rich in fat-forming 
principles, and given to milch cows it increases the 
quality of butter, and keeps them in condition. Four 
or five pounds a day are sufficient for cows in milk, and 
this amount will effect a great saving in the cost of 
other food, and at the same time make a very rich 
milk. It is extensively manufactured in this country, 
and largely exported, but is worthy of more general use 
here. It must not be fed in too large quantities to 
milch cows, for it would be liable to give too great a 
tendency to fat, and thus affect the quantity of milk. 

Rape-Cake possesses much the same qualities. It is 
the residuum after pressing the oil from rape-seed. 

Cotton-seed Meal is an article of comparatively 
reCent introduction. It is obtained by pressing the 
seed of the cotton-plant, which extracts the oil, when 
the cake is crushed or ground into meal, which has been 
found to be a very valuable article for feeding stock. 
An analysis has been given on a preceding page, which 
shows it to be equal or superior to linseed meal. Prac- 
tical experiments are needed to establish it. It is pre- 
17* 



198 MANURES ON THE FARM. 

pared chiefly in Providence, E. I., and is for sale in the 
market at a very reasonable price. 

The Manures used in this country in the culture 
of the plants mentioned above are mostly such as are 
made on the farm, consisting chiefly of barn-yard com- 
posts of various kinds, with often a large admixture of 
peat-mud. There are few farms that do not contain 
substances which, if properly husbanded., would add 
very greatly to the amount of manure ordinarily made. 
The best of the concentrated manures, which it is some- 
times necessary to use, for want of time and labor to 
prepare enough on the farm, is, unquestionably, Peru- 
vian guano. The results of this, when properly ap- 
plied, are well known and reliable, which can hardly be 
said of any other artificial manure offered for the farm- 
er's notice. The chief objection to depending on man- 
ures made off the farm is, in the first place, their great 
expense ; and in the second, which is equally important, 
the fact that, though they may be made valuable, and 
produce at one time the best results, a want of care in 
the manufacture, or designed fraud, may make them 
almost worthless, with the impossibility of detecting 
the imposition, without a chemical analysis, till it be- 
comes too late, and the crop is lost. 

It is, therefore, safest to rely mainly upon the home 
manufacture of manure. The extra expense of soiling 
cattle, saving and applying the liquid manure, and thus 
bringing the land to a higher state of cultivation, 
when it will be capable of keeping more stock, and of 
furnishing more manure, would offer a surer road to suc- 
cess than a constant outlay for concentrated fertilizers. 

The various articles used for top-dressing grass lands, 
and the management of grass and pasture lands, have been 
treated of in detail in the work already alluded to, on 
the Culture of Grasses and Forage Plants. 



CHAPTER VII. 

MILK. 

Milk, as the first and natural food of man, has been 
used from the remotest antiquity of the human race. 
It is produced by the females of that class of ani- 
mals known as the mammalia, and was designed by 
nature as the nourishment of their young ; but the 
richest and most abundant secretions in common use 
are those of the cow, the camel, the mare, and the goat. 
The use of camel's milk is confined chiefly to Africa and 
to China, that of mares to Tartary and Siberia, and that 
of goats to Italy and Spain. The milk of the cow is 
universally esteemed. 

Milk is an opaque fluid, generally white in color, 
having a sweet and agreeable taste, and is composed of 
a fatty substance, which forms butter, a caseous sub- 
stance, which forms cheese, and a watery residuum, 
.known as serum, or whey, in cheese-making. The 
fatty or butyraceous matter in pure milk varies usually 
from two and a half to six and a half per cent. ; the 
caseous or cheesy matter, from three to ten per cent. ; 
and the serous matter, or whey, from eighty to ninety 
per cent. 

To the naked eye milk appears to be of the same 
character and consistence throughout; but under the 
microscope a myriad of little globules of varied forms, 
but mostly round or ovoid, and of very unequal sizes, 



200 COMPOSITION OP MILK. 

appear to float in the watery matter. On more minute 
examination, these butter-globules are seen to be 
enclosed in a thin film of caseous matter. They are so 
minute that they filter through the finest paper. Milk 
readily assimilates with water and other sweet and 
unfermented liquids, though it weighs four per cent, 
more than water. Cold condenses, heat liquefies it. 

The elements of which it is composed, not being 
similar in character or specific gravity, undergo rapid 
changes when at rest. The oily particles, being lighter 
than the rest, soon begin to separate from them, and 
rise to the surface in the form of a yellowish semi-liquid 
cream, while the greater specific gravity of the serous 
matter, or whey, carries it to the bottom. 

A high temperature very soon develops acidity, and 
hastens the separation of the cheesy matter, or curd, 
from the whey. And so the three principal elements 
are easily distinguished. 

But the oily or butyraceous matter, in rising to the 
surface, brings up along with it many cheesy particles, 
which mechanically adhere to it, and give it more or 
less of a white instead of a yellow color ; and many 
watery or serous particles, which make it thinner, or 
more liquid, than it otherwise would be. If it rose up 
free from the adhesion of the other elements, it would 
appear in the form of pure butter, and would not need 
to undergo the process of churning to separate it from 
other substances. The time may come when some 
means will be devised, either mechanical or chemical, 
to separate the butter particles from the rest instan- 
taneously and completely, and thus avoid the often long 
and tedious process of churning. 

The coagulation, or collecting together of the cheesy 
particles, by which the curd becomes separated from 
the whey, sometimes takes place so rapidly, from the 



CAUGHT IN THE CURD. — FERMENTATION. 201 

effect of great heat, or sudden changes in the atmos- 
phere, that there is not time for the butter particles t'o 
rise to the surface, and they remain mixed up with the 
curd. 

Nor does the serous or watery matter remain dis- 
clinct or free from the mixture of particles of the cheesy 
and buttery matters. It also holds in suspension some 
alkaline salts and sugar of milk, to the extent of from 
three to four per cent, of its weight. 

"We have, then, 

m f Butter. i _ L 

fCream. |Butter-milk.j Water - 

Milk, j (Curd f Buttei 7 ancl cheesy residuum. 1 p ure 

ISkimmed milk. j Whey> jSugar of milk. j water _ 

It may be stated, in other words, that milk is com- 
posed chiefly of caseine, or curd, which gives it its 
strength, and from which cheese is made ; a butyra- 
ceous or oily substance, which gives it its richness ; a 
sugar of milk, to which it owes its sweetness, and a 
watery substance, which makes it refreshing as a beve- 
rage ; together with traces of alkaline salts, from whence 
are derived its flavor and medicinal properties ; and 
that these constituents appear in. proportions which 
vary in different specimens, according to the breed 
of the animal, the food, the length of time after parturi- 
tion, etc. 

Milk becomes sour, on standing exposed to a warm 
atmosphere, by the change of its sugar of milk into an 
acid known as lactic acid ; and it is owing to this sugar, 
and the chemical changes to which it gives rise, that milk 
is susceptible of undergoing all degrees of fermenta- 
tion, and of being made into a fermented and palatable 
but intoxicating liquor, which, by distillation, produces 
pure alcohol. This liquor is extensively used in some 



202 MILK-WINE. — THE UDDER. 

countries. The arrack of the Arabs is sometimes made 
from camel's milk. 

The Tartars make most of their spirituous liquors 
from milk ; and for this purpose they prefer mare's milk, 
on account of its larger percentage of sugar, which 
causes a greater and more active fermentation. The 
liquor made from it is termed milk-wine, or khoumese. 
It resembles beer, and has intoxicating qualities. The 
process of manufacture is very simple. The milk, being 
allowed first to turn sour, is then heated to the proper 
temperature, when it begins to ferment ; and in a day in 
summer, or two or three clays in winter, the process is 
completed, and the liquor may be kept several weeks 
without losing its good qualities. 

The admirable though complicated organization of 
the udder and teats of the cow has already been 
explained, in speaking of the manner of milking. But 
it may be said, in general, that the number of stomachs 
or powerful digestive organs of the ruminants is won- 
derfully adapted to promote the largest secretions of 
every kind. 

The udder of the cow, the more immediate and 
important receptacle of milk, and in which other milk- 
vessels terminate, is. divided into two sections, and each 
of these sections is subdivided into two others, mak- 
ing four divisions, each constituting in itself, to some 
extent, an organ of secretion. But it is well knoAvn 
that, as a general thing, the lateral section, comprising 
the two hind teats, usually secretes larger quantities 
of milk than the front section, and that its development, 
both external and internal, is usually the greatest. 

Milk is exceedingly sensitive to numerous influences, 
many of which are not well understood. It is probably 
true that the milk of each of the divisions of the udder 
differs to some extent from that of the others in the 



FEEDING. — WINTEE MILK. 203 

same animal ; and it is well known that the milk of dif- 
ferent cows, fed on the same food, has marked differ- 
ences in quality and composition. But food, no doubt, 
has a more powerful and immediate effect than any- 
thing else, as we should naturally suppose from the fact 
that it goes directly to supply all the secretions of the 
body. Feeding exclusively on dry food, for instance, 
produces a thicker, more buttery and cheesy milk, 
though less abundant in quantity, than feeding on moist 
and succulent food. The former will be more nutritive 
than the latter. 

Cows in winter will usually give a milk much richer 
in butter and less cheesy than in summer, for the 
same reason ; while in summer their milk is richer in 
cheese and less buttery than in winter. As already 
intimated, the frequency of milking has its effect on the 
quality. Milking but once a day would give a more 
condensed and buttery milk than milking twice or 
three times. The separation of the different constitu- 
ents of milk begins, undoubtedly, before it leaves the 
udder ; and hence we find that the milk first drawn from 
the cow at a milking is far more watery than that 
drawn later, the last drawn, commonly called the strip- 
pings, being the richest of all, and containing from six 
to twelve times as much butter as the first. 

Many other influences affect the milk of cows, both in 
quantity and quality, as the length of time after calving, 
the age and health of the cow, the season of the year, 
etc. Milk is whiter in color in winter than in summer, 
even when the feeding is precisely the same. At 
certain seasons the milk of the same Cow is bluer than 
at others. This is often observable in dog-days. 

The specific gravity of milk is greater than that of 
water, that of the latter being one thousand, and that 
of the former one thousand and thirty-one on an average, 



204 PEECENTAGE OF CREAM. 

though it varies greatly as it comes from different cows, 
and even at different times from the same cow. A feed- 
ing of salt given to the cow will, in a few hours, cause 
the specific gravity of her milk to vary from one to 
three per cent. 

Milk will ordinarily produce from ten to fifteen per 
cent, of its own volume in cream ; or, on an average, not 
far from twelve and a half per cent. Eight quarts of 
milk will, therefore, make about one quart of cream. 
But the milk of cows that are fed so as to produce the 
richest milk and butter will often very far exceed this, 
sometimes giving over twenty per cent, of cream, and 
in very rare instances twenty-five or twenty-six per 
cent. The product of milk in cream is more regular 
than the product of cream in butter. A very rich milk 
is lighter than milk of a poor quality, for the reason 
that cream is lighter than skim-milk. 

Of the different constituents of milk, caseine is that 
which most resembles animal matter, and hence the 
intrinsic value of cheese as a nutritive article of food. 
Hence, also, the nutritive qualities of skimmed milk, 
or milk from which the cream only has been removed, 
while the milk is still sweet. The oily or fatty parts 
of milk furnish heat to the animal system ; but this is 
easily supplied by other substances. 

From the peculiar nature of milk, and its extreme 
sensitiveness to external influences, the importance of 
the utmost care in its management must be apparent ; 
and this care must begin from the moment when it 
leaves the udder, especially if it is to be made into 
butter. In this case it would be better, if it were con- 
venient, to keep the different kinds of milk of the same 
milking by itself — that which comes first from the 
udder, and that which is drawn last ; and if the first third 
could be set by itself, and the second and the third parts 



DIFFEEENT QUALITIES AS THEY EISE. 205 

by themselves, the time required to raise the cream of 
each part would doubtless be considerably less than it 
is where the different elements of the milk are so inti- 
mately mixed together in the process of milking, after 
being once partially separated, as they are before they 
leave the udcler. 

After milking, as little time as possible should elapse 
before the milk is brought to rest in the pan. The 
remarks of Dr. Anderson on the treatment of milk are 
pertinent in this connection. " If milk," says he, " be 
put into a dish and allowed to stand until it throws up 
cream, the portion of cream rising first to the surface 
is richer in quality and equal in quantity to that which 
rises in a second equal space of time ; and the cream 
which rises in a second interval of time is greater in 
quantity and richer in quality than that which rises in a 
third equal space of time. That of the third is greater 
than that of the fourth, and so of the rest; the cream 
that rises continuing progressively to decrease in 
quantity and quality, so long as any rises to the surface. 

" Thick milk always throws up a much smaller pro- 
portion of the cream which it actually contains than 
milk that is thinner, but the cream is of a richer qual- 
ity ; and if water be added to that thick milk, it will 
afford a considerably greater quantity of cream, and 
consequently more butter, than it would have done if 
allowed to remain pure ; but its quality at the same time 
is greatly deteriorated. 

" Milk which is put into a bucket or other proper 
vessel, and carried in it to a considerable distance, so as 
to be much agitated and in part cooled before it be put 
into the milk-pans to settle for cream, never throws up 
so much or so rich a cream as if the same milk had been 
put into the milk-pans, without agitation, directly after it 
was milked." 

18 



206 TEMPERATURE OF THE BEST DAIRIES. 

Milk as it comes from the cow is about blood-heat, or 
98° Fah. It should be cooled off as little as possible 
before coming to rest. With this object in view, the 
pails may be rinsed with hot water before milking, and 
the distance from the place of milking to the milk-room 
should be as short as possible ; but, even with all these 
precautions, the fall in temperature will be considerable. 

From what has already been said with regard to the 
manner in which the cream or oily particles of the milk 
rise to the surface, and the difficulty of rising through a 
great space, on account of their intimate entanglement 
with the cheesy and other matters, the importance of 
using shallow pans must be sufficiently obvious. 

To facilitate and hasten the rising of the butter 
or oily particles, the importance of keeping the milk- 
room at a uniform and pretty high temperature will 
be equally obvious. The greatest density of milk is 
at or near the temperature of 41° Fah. ; and at this point 
the butter particles will, of course, rise with the great- 
est difficulty and slowness, and bring up a far greater 
amount of cheese particles than under more favorable 
circumstances. These caseous and watery matters, as 
has been already stated, cause the cream or the butter 
to look white, and to ferment and become rancid. To 
avoid this, the temperature is generally kept, in the best 
butter-dairies, as high as from 58° to 62°. Some recom- 
mend keeping the milk at over 70°, and from that to 80°, 
at which temperature the cream, they say, rises very rap- 
idly, especially if the depth through which it has to rise 
is but slight. But that, in the opinion of most practical 
dairymen, is too high. 

To obtain the greatest amount of cream from a given 
quantity of milk, the depth in the pan should, it seems 
to me, never exceed two inches. A high temperature 
and shallow depth, as they liquefy the milk and facilitate 



MOIST CLIMATES. CLEANLINESS. 207 

the rising of the particles, tend to secure a cream free 
from the cheesy matter, and such cream Avill make a 
quality of butter both more delicate to the taste, and 
less likely to become rancid, than any other. 

It has already been intimated, in another connection, 
that neither the largest quantity nor the best quality 
of milk is given by the cow till after she has had two 
or three calves, or has arrived at the age of five or six 
years. It may also be said, what cannot fail to have 
attracted the attention of observing dairymen, that in 
very dry seasons the quantity of milk yielded will gen- 
erally be less, though the quality will be richer, than in 
moist and mild seasons. 

Hence it may be inferred that moist climates are 
much more favorable to the production of milk than dry 
ones ; and this also has been frequently observed and 
admitted to be a well-known fact. From these facts it 
may be stated that dry and warm weather increases 
the quantity of butter, but it is also true that cooler 
weather produces a greater amount of cheese. A state 
of pregnancy, it is obvious, must reduce the quality of 
the milk, and cause it to yield less cream than before. 

In the treatment of milk the utmost cleanliness is es- 
pecially requisite. The pails, the strainers, the pans, the 
milk-room, and, in short, everything connected Math the 
dairy, must be kept neat and clean to an extent which 
few but the very best dairy-women can appreciate. The 
smallest portion of old milk left to sour in the strainers 
or pans will be sure to taint them, and impart their bad 
flavor to the new milk put into them. Every one i.s 
familiar with the fact that an exceedingly small quantity 
of yeast causes an active fermentation. The process is 
a chemical one, and another familiar instance of it is 
in the distillation of liquors and the brewing of beer, 
where the malt creates a very active fermentation. In 



208 ADULTERATIONS. — SWILL MILK. 

a similar manner the smallest particle of sour milk will 
taint a large quantity of sweet. 

The milk-room should be removed from dampness, 
and all gases which might be injurious to the milk by 
infecting the atmosphere. If the state of the atmos- 
phere and the temperature, as has been stated, affect it, 
all contact with foreign substances to which it is liable 
in careless and slovenly milking, and all air rendered 
impure by vegetables and innumerable other things 
kept in a house-cellar, will be much more liable to taint 
and injure it. Milk appears to absorb odors from ob- 
jects near it, to such an extent that a piece of catnip 
lying near the pan has been known to impart its flavor 
to it. 

Milk, as sold in most large cities, is often adulterated 
to a great extent, but most frequently with water. Not 
unfrequently, too, a part of the cream is first taken off, 
and water afterwards added ; in which case the use of 
burnt sugar is very common for coloring the milk, the 
blueness of which would otherwise lead to detection. 
The adulteration of pure milk from the healthy cow by 
water, though dishonest, and objectionable in the high- 
est degree, is far less iniquitous in its consequences 
than the nefarious traffic in " swill-milk," or milk pro- 
duced from cows fed entirely on " still-slops," from 
which they soon become diseased, after which the milk 
contains a subtle poison, which is as difficult of detec- 
tion by any known process of chemistry as the miasma 
of an atmosphere tainted with yellow fever or the chol- 
era. The simple fact is sufficiently palpable, that no 
pure and healthy milk can be produced by an unhealthy 
and diseased animal ; and that no animal can long remain 
healthy that is fed on an unnatural food, and treated in 
the manner too common around the distilleries of many 
large cities. 



THE SPECIFIC-GKAVITY TEST. 209 

It is evident, from the well-known influence which 
" still-slops " and other exceedingly succulent food have 
in increasing the amount of water in the milk, that adul- 
teration may be effected by means of the food, as well 
as by addition of water to the milk itself. It is evident, 
too, on a moment's reflection, that the specific gravity 
of pure milk must vary exceedingly, as it comes from 
different cows, or from the same cow at different times. 
This variation reached to the extent of twenty-three 
degrees in the milk of forty-two different cows, or from 
one thousand and eight to one thousand and thirty-one ; 
but so great a variation is very rare, and not to be 
expected. 

No reliable conclusion, as to whether a particular 
specimen of milk has been adulterated or not, can there- 
fore be drawn from the differences in specific gravity 
alone. A radical difficulty attending this test arises 
from the fact that the specific gravity both of water and 
cream is less than that of pure milk. If, therefore, the 
hydrometer sinks deeper into the fluid than would be 
-i expected in ordinary pure milk, how is it 

possible, unless the variation is very large, to 
tell whether it is due to the richness of the 
milk in cream, or to the water ? I have, 
for instance, two instruments, each labelled 
" Lactometer," but both of which are simple 
hydrometers (Fig. 71), or specific gravity 
testers, one of which is graduated with the 
water-mark and that of pure milk 20°; the 
water-mark of the other being 0, like the 
first, and that of pure milk 100°. Both are 
the same in principle, the only difference 
being in the graduation. On the former, 
graduated for pure milk at 20°, it is difficult 
to tell with accuracy the small variations in 
18* 14 



50 



100 




210 VARIATION IN SPECIFIC GRAVITY. 

the percentage of water or cream, the divisions on the 
scale are so minute, while the latter marks them so 
that they can be read off with greater ease and pre- 
cision. 

For the purpose of showing the difference in the spe- 
cific gravity in different specimens of pure milk, taken 
from the cows in the morning, and allowed to cool down 
to about 60°, I used the latter instrument with the fol- 
lowing results : The first pint drawn from a native cow 
stood at 101°, the scale being graduated at 100° for pure 
milk. The last pint of the same milking, being the strip- 
pings of the same cow, stood at 86°. The mixture of the 
two pints stood at about 93^-°. The milk of a pure-bred 
Jersey stood at 95°, that of an Ayrshire at 100°, that 
of a Hereford at 10G°, that of a Devon at 111°, while a 
thin cream stood at 66°. All these specimens of milk 
were pure, and milked at the same time in the morning, 
carefully labelled in separate vessels, and set upon the 
same shelf to cool off; and yet the variations of specific 
gravity amounted to 25°, or, taking the average quality 
of the native cows' milk at 935-°, the variations amounted 
to 17_ 10 . 

But, knowing the specific gravity, at the outset, of 
any specimen of milk, the hydrometer would show the 
amount of water added. This cheap and simple instru- 
ment is therefore of frequent service. 

The lactometer is a very different instrument, and 
measures the comparative richness of different speci- 
mens of milk. It is of very great service both in the 
butter and cheese dairy, for testing the comparative 
value of different cows for the purposes for which they 
are kept. This instrument is very simple and cheap 
and the practical dairyman can tell by it what cows he 
can best part with without detriment to his business. 



THE LACTOMETER. 



211 



No cow should be admitted to a herd kept for butter- 
making without knowing her qualities in this respect. 
Many would find, on examination, that some of their 
cows, though giving a good quantity, were compara- 
tively worthless to them. Such was the experience of 
John Holbert, of Chemung, New York, who, in his 
statement to the state agricultural society, says : " I 
find, by churning the milk of each cow separately, that 
one of my best cows will make as much butter as three 
of my poorest, giving the same quantity of milk. I have 
kept a dairy for twenty years, but I never until the 
past season knew that there was so much difference in 
cows.' 7 




Fig. 72. Lactometer. 



The simplest form of the lactometer is a series of 
graduated glass tubes (Fig. 72), or vials, of equal diam- 
eter ; generally a third of an inch inside, and about 
eleven inches long. The tubes are filled to an equal 
height, each one with the milk of a different cow, and 
allowed to stand for the cream to rise. The difference 
in thickness of the column of cream will be very per- 
ceptible, and it will be greater than most people imag- 
ine. The effect of different kinds of food for the pro- 
duction of butter may be studied in the same way. 



212 MODES OF PRESERVING MILK. 

This form of the lactometer was invented by Sir Joseph 
Banks. 

Various means are used for the preservation of milk. 
One of these is by concentrating it by boiling. Where 
this is followed, as it is by some dairymen, as a regular 
business, the milk is poured, as it comes from the dairy, 
into long, shallow, copper pans, and heated to a temper- 
ature of a hundred and ten degrees, Fahrenheit. A lit- 
tle sugar is then mixed in, and the whole body of milk 
is kept in motion by stirring for some three or four 
hours. The water is evaporated, leaving the milk about 
one fourth of its original bulk. It is now put into tin 
cans, the covers of which are soldered on, when the 
cans are lowered into boiling water. After remaining 
a while, they are taken out and hermetically sealed, in 
which condition the milk will keep for months. Con- 
centrated milk may thus be taken to sea or elsewhere. 
Another form is that of solidified milk, in which state it 
is easily and perfectly soluble in water ; and when so 
dissolved with a proper proportion of water, it assumes 
its original form of milk, and may be made into butter. 
A statement by Dr. Doremus, in the New York Medical 
Journal, explains the process, as follows : 

To one hundred and twelve pounds of milk twenty- 
eight pounds of Stuart's white sugar were added, and a 
trivial portion of bicarbonate of soda, — a teaspoonful, 
— merely enough to insure the neutralizing of any acid- 
ity, which, in the summer season, is exhibited even a 
lew minutes after milking, although inappreciable to 
the organs of taste. The sweet milk was poured into 
evaporating pans of enamelled iron, imbedded in warm 
water heated by steam. A thermometer was immersed 
in each of these water-baths, that, by frequent inspec- 
tion, the temperature might not rise above the point 
which years of experience have shown advisable. To 



SOLIDIFIED MILK. 213 

facilitate the evaporation, by means of blowers and 
other ingenious apparatus a current of air is established 
between the covers of the pans and the solidifying 
milk. Connected with the steam-engine is an arrange- 
ment of stirrers, for agitating the milk slightly, while 
evaporating, and so gently as not to churn it. In about 
three hours the milk and sugar assumed a pasty con- 
sistency, and delighted the palates of all present. By 
constant manipulation and warming, it was reduced to 
a rich, creamy-looking powder, then exposed to the air 
to cool, weighed into parcels of a pound each, and by a 
press, with the force of a ton or two, made to assume 
the compact form of a tablet (the size of a small brick), 
in which shape, covered with tin-foil, it is presented to 
the public. 

" Some of the solidified milk which had been grated 
and dissolved in water the previous evening was found 
covered with a rich cream ; this, skimmed off, was soon 
converted into excellent butter. Another solution was 
speedily converted into wine-whey by a treatment pre- 
cisely similar to that employed in using ordinary milk. 
It fully equalled the expectations of all ; so that solidi- 
fied milk will hereafter rank among the necessary 
appendages to the sick room. In fine, this article makes 
paps, custards, puddings, and cakes, equal to the best 
milk; and one maybe sure it is an unadulterated article, 
obtained from well-pastured cattle, and not the produce 
of distillery slops ; neither can it be watered. For our 
steamships, our packets, for those travelling by land or 
by sea, for hotel purposes, or use in private families, 
for young or old, we recommend it cordially as a sub- 
stitute for fresh milk." 

A pound of this solidified milk, it is said, will make 
five pints when dissolved in water. 

Another favorite form in which milk is used is that 



214 HOW TO MAKE ICE-CREAM. 

known as ice-cream, a cheap and healthy luxury during 
the summer months. It is frozen in a simple machine 
made for the purpose, in the best form of which the 
time of the operation is from six to ten minutes. The 
richest quality of ice-cream is made from cream, in the 
following- manner: To one quart of cream use the 
yolks of three eggs. Put the cream over the fire till it 
boils, during which time the eggs are beaten up with 
half a pound of white sugar, powdered fine ; and when 
the cream boils stir it upon the eggs and sugar, then let 
it stand till quite cold, then add the juice of three or 
four lemons. It is then ready to put into the freezer. 
The heat of the cream partially cooks the eggs, and the 
stirring must be continued to prevent their cooking too 
much. 

A somewhat simpler receipt, given by the confec- 
tioners, is the following: To half a pound of powdered 
sugar add the juice of three lemons. Mix the sugar and 
lemon together, and then add one quart of cream. This 
is less rich and delicate than the preceding, but is quite 
rich enough for common use, and some trouble is saved. 

The following receipt makes a very good ice-cream. 

Two quarts of good rich milk ; four fresh eggs ; 
three quarters of a pound of white sugar; six teaspoons 
of Bermuda arrow-root. Rub the arrow-root smooth 
in a little cold milk, beat the eggs and sugar together, 
bring the milk to the boiling point, then stir in the 
arrow-root; remove it then from the fire, and immedi- 
ately add the eggs and sugar, stirring briskly, to keep 
the eggs from cooking, then set aside to cool. If 
flavored with extracts, let it be done just before putting 
it in the freezer. If the vanilla bean is used, it must be 
boiled in the milk. The preparation must be thoroughly 
cooled before the freezing is proceeded with. 

The ice-cream by this receipt may be produced at a 



MILK OF SPAYED COWS. 215 

cost not exceeding twenty-five cents a quart, calling the 
milk five cents a quart, and the eggs a cent apiece, and 
including the cost of labor. It is quite equal to that 
commonly furnished by the confectioners at seventy- 
five cents a quart. The arrow-root may be dispensed 
with. The freezer is a cheap and simple machine. 

After the cream has frozen in the machine, it should 
stand an hour or two to harden before it is used. 

To secure a more uniform flow and a richer quality 
of milk, cows are sometimes spayed, or castrated. The 
milk of spayed cows is pretty uniform in quantity, 
and this quantity will be, on an average, a little more 
than before the operation was performed. But few 
instances have come under my observation, and those 
few have resulted satisfactorily, the quality of the milk 
having been greatly improved, the yield becoming 
regular for some years, and varying only by the differ- 
ence in the succulence of the food. The proper time 
for spaying is about five or six weeks after calving, or 
at the time when the largest quantity of milk is given. 
There seem to be some advantages in spaying for milk 
and butter dairies, where the raising of stock is not 
attended to. The cows are more quiet, never being 
liable to returns of seasons of heat, which always more 
or less affect the milk both in quantity and quality. 
They give milk nearly uniform in these respects, for 
several years, provided the food is uniformly succulent 
and nutritious. Their milk is influenced like that of 
other cows, though to less extent, by the quality and 
quantity of food: so that in winter, unless the animal is 
properly attended to, the yield will decrease somewhat, 
but will rise again as good feed returns. This uniform- 
ity for the milk-dairy is of immense advantage. Besides, 
the cow, when old, and inclined to dry up, takes on fat 



216 ANALYSES OF MILK. 

with greater rapidity, and produces a juicy and tender 
beef, superior, at the same age, to that of the ox. The 
operation of spaying is simple, and may be performed 
by any veterinary surgeon, without much risk of 
injury. 

The milk of the cow has often been analyzed. It was 
found by Haidlen to consist of 



Water, ...... 873. 

Butter, 30. 

Caseine, 48.2 

Sugar of milk, ... 43.9 
Phosphate of lime, . . 2.31 



Magnesia, 42 

Iron, 47 

Chloride of Potassium, . . 1.44 
Sodium and Soda, . . . .G6 

1000. 



But its composition, as already intimated, varies 
exceedingly with the food of the animal, and is 
influenced by an infinite variety of circumstances. 

Skim-milk is much more watery than whole milk. It 
was found by one analysis to contain about 97 per cent, 
of water and 3 per cent, of caseine. 

Swill-milk, or milk from cows fed on " still-slops," in 
New York, was found by analysis to contain less than 
1.5 per cent, of butter, some specimens having even 
less than one per cent. 

The colostrum, or milk of the cow just after calving, 
contains a large proportion of cheesy matter. Its 
amount of caseine was found by careful analysis to be 
15.1 per cent., of butter 2.6, mucous matter 2, and 
water 80.3, there being only a trace of sugar of milk. 

The measures for milk in common use in this country 
are those used for wine and beer. The wine quart is 
about one fifth less than the beer quart, and is that 
most commonly used in England. It is to be regretted 
that no uniform standard has been adopted throughout 
the country. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

BUTTER AND THE BUTTER-DAIRY. 

" Slow rolls the churn — its load of clogging cream 
At once foregoes its quality and name. 
From knotty particles first floating wide, 
Congealing butter 's dashed from side to side." 

Butter, as we have seen, is the oily or fatty con- 
stituent of all good milk, mechanically united or held in 
suspension by the solution of caseine or cheesy matter 
in water. It is already formed in the udder of the cow, 
and the operations required after it leaves the udder, to 
produce it, effect merely the separation, more or less 
complete, of the butter from the cheese and the whey. 

This being the case, it is natural to suppose that 
butter was known at an early date. The wandering- 
tribes, accustomed to take on their journeys a supply 
of milk in skins, would find it formed by the agitation 
of travelling, and thus would be suggested the first 
rude and simple process of churning. 

But it is not probable that the Jews possessed a 
knowledge of it ; and it is pretty well settled, at the 
present time, that the passages in our English version 
of the Old Testament in which it is used are errone- 
ously translated, and that wherever the word butter 
occurs the word milk, or sour, thick milk, or cream, 
should be substituted. And so in Isaiah, " Milk and 
honey shall he eat," instead of "butter;" and in Job 
(29: 6), " When I washed my foot in milk," instead of 
19 



218 HISTORY. — CREAM THAT RISES FIRST. 

" butter." And the expression in Prov. (30 : 33), 
" Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter," 
would be better translated, according to the best 
critics, " the pressing of the milker bringeth forth 
milk," or the "pressing of milk bringeth forth cheese." 

In the oldest Greek writers milk and cheese are 
spoken of, but there is no evidence that butter was 
known to them. The Greeks obtained their knowledge 
of it from the Scythians or the Thracians, and the 
Romans obtained theirs from the Germans. 

In the time of Christ it was used chiefly as an oint- 
ment in the baths, and as a medicine. In warm lati- 
tudes, as in the southern part of Europe, even at the 
present day, its use is comparatively limited, the deli- 
cious oil of the olive supplying its place. 

I have already stated that all good milk of the cow 
contained butter enclosed in little round globules held 
in suspension, or floating in the other substances. As 
soon as the milk comes to rest after leaving the udder, 
these round particles, being lighter than the mass of 
cheesy and watery materials by which they are sur- 
rounded, begin to rise and work their way to the sur- 
face. The largest globules, being comparatively the 
lightest, rise first, and form the first layer of cream, 
which is the best, since it is less filled with caseine. 
The next smaller, rising a little slower, are more 
entangled with other substances, and bring more of 
them to the surface ; and the smallest rise the slowest 
and the last, and come up loaded with foreign sub- 
stances, and produce an inferior quality of cream and 
butter. The most delicate cream, as well as the sweet- 
est and most fragrant butter, is that obtained by a first 
skimming, only a few hours after the milk is set. Of 
three skimmings, at six, twelve, and eighteen hours 
after the milk is strained into the pan, that first obtained 



MILK AND WATEE. 219 

will make more and richer butter than the second, and 
that next obtained richer than the third, and so on. 

The last quart of milk drawn at a milking, for reasons 
already stated, will make a more delicious and savory 
butter than the first ; and if the last quart or two of a 
milking is set by itself, and the first cream that rises 
taken from it after standing only five or six hours, it 
will produce the richest and highest-flavored butter the 
cow is capable of giving, under like circumstances as to 
season and feed. 

The separation of the butter particles from the others 
is slower and more difficult in proportion to the thick- 
ness and richness of the milk. Hence in winter, on dry 
feeding, the milk being richer and more buttery, the 
cream or particles of butter are slower and longer in 
rising. But, as heat liquefies milk, the difficulty is over- 
come in part by elevating the temperature. The same 
effect is produced by mixing a little water into the milk 
when it is set. It aids the separation, and consequently 
more cream will rise in the same space of time, from 
the same amount of rich milk, with a little water in it, 
than without. Water slightly warm, if in cold weather, 
will produce the most perceptible effect. The quantity 
of butter will be greater from milk treated in this way; 
the quality, slightly deteriorated. 

It must be apparent, from what has been said, that 
butter may be produced by agitating the whole body 
of the milk, and thus breaking up the filmy coatings of 
the globules, as well as by letting it stand for the cream 
to rise. This course is preferred by many practical 
dairymen, and is the general practice in some of the 
countries most celebrated for superior butter. 

The general treatment of milk and the management 
of cream have been already alluded to in a former chap- 
ter. It has been seen that the first requisites to sue- 



220 CLEANLINESS. — GOOD BUTTER. 

cessful dairy husbandry are good cows, and abundant 
and good feeding, adapted to the special object of the 
dairy, whether it be milk, butter, or cheese ; and that, 
with both these conditions, an absolute cleanliness in 
every process, from the milking of the cow to bringing 
the butter upon the table, is indispensably necessary. 

Cleanliness may, indeed, with propriety be regarded 
as the chief requisite in the manufacture of good but- 
ter; for the least suspicion of a want of it turns the 
appetite at once, while both milk and cream are so ex- 
ceedingly sensitive to the slightest taint in the air, in 
everything with which they come in contact, as to 
impart the unmistakable evidence of any negligence, 
in the taste and flavor of the butter. 

It is safe to say, therefore, that good butter depends 
more upon the manufacture than upon any other one 
thing, and perhaps than all others put together. So im- 
portant is this point, that a judicious writer remarks that 
" in every district where good butter is made it is univer- 
sally attributed to the richness of the pastures, though 
it is a well-known fact that, take a skilful dairymaid 
from that district into another, where good butter is not 
usually made, and where, of course, the pastures are 
deemed very unfavorable, she will make butter as good 
as she used to do. And bring one from this last district 
into the other, and she will find that she cannot make 
better butter there than she did before, unless she takes 
lessons from the servants, or others whom she finds 
there ; " and a French writer very justly observes that 
" the particular nature of Bretagne butter, whose color, 
flavor, and consistence, are so much prized, depends 
neither on the pasture nor on the particular species of 
cow, but on the mode of making;" and this will hold, 
to a considerable extent, in every country where but- 
ter is made. 



THE DAIEY-EOOM. 221 

Many things, indeed, concur to produce the best re- 
sults, and it would be useless to underrate the import- 
ance of any ; but, with the best of cows to impart the 
proper color and consistency to butter, the sweetest 
feed and the purest water to secure a delicate flavor, 
the utmost care must still be bestowed by the dairymaid 
upon every process of manufacture, or else the best of 
milk and cream will be spoiled, or produce an article 
which will bring only a low price in the market, when, 
with greater skill, it might have obtained the highest. 

From what has been said of the care requisite to pre- 
serve the milk from taint, it may be inferred that atten- 
tion to the milk and dairy room is of no small importance. 
In very large butter-dairies, a building is devoted ex- 
clusively to this department. This should be at a short 
distance from the yard, or place of milking, but no 
further than is necessary to be removed from all impur- 
ities in the air arising from it, and from all low, damp 
places, subject to disagreeable exhalations. This is of 
the utmost importance. It should be well ventilated, 
and kept constantly clean and sweet, by the use of pure 
water ; and especially, if milk is spilled, it should be 
washed up immediately, with fresh water. No matter if 
it is but a single drop ; if allowed to soak into the floor 
and sour, it cannot easily be removed, and it is sufficient 
to taint the air and the milk in the room, though' it may 
not be perceptible to the senses. 

In smaller dairies, economy dictates the use of a room 
in the house ; and this, in warm climates, should be on 
the north side, and used exclusively for this purpose. 
I have known many to use a room in the cellar as a 
milk-room ; but very few cellars are at all suitable. 
Most are filled with a great variety of articles which 
never fail to infect the air. 

But, if a house-cellar is so built as to make it a suita- 
19* 



222 



PUEE AIR. — THE MILK-STAND. 



ble place to set the milk, as where a large dry and airy 
room, sufficiently isolated from the rest, can be used, a 
greater uniformity of temperature can usually be se- 
cured than on the floor above. The room, in this case, 
should have a gravel or loamy bottom, uncemented, but 
dry and porous. The soil is a powerful absorbent of 
the noxious gases which are apt to infect the atmos- 
phere near the bottom of the cellar. 

Milk should never be set on the bottom of a cellar, if 
the object is to raise the cream. The cream will rise in 
time, but rarely or never so quickly or so- completely as 
on shelves from five to eight feet from the bottom, 
around which a free circulation of pure air can be had 
from the latticed windows. It is, perhaps, safe to say 
that as great an amount of better cream will rise from 
the same milk in twelve hours on suitable shelves, six 




73. Milk-stand. 



feet from the bottom, as would be obtained directly on 
the bottom of the same cellar in twenty-four hours. 



THE PANS. — THE SKIMMER. 223 

One of the most convenient forms for shelves in a 
dairy-room designed for butter-making is- represented 
in Fig. 73 ; made of light and seasoned wood, in an oc- 
tagonal form, and capable of holding one hundred and 
seventy-six pans of the ordinary form and size. It is so 
simple and easily constructed, and so economizes space, 
that it may readily be adapted to other and smaller 
rooms for a similar purpose. If the dairy-house is near 
a spring of pure and running water, a small stream can 
be led in by one channel and taken out by another, and 
thus keep a constant circulation under the milk-stand, 
which may be so constructed as to turn easily on the 
central post, so as often to save many footsteps. 

The pans designed for milk are generally made of tin. 
That is found, after long experience, to be, on the whole, 
the best and most economical, and subject to fewer 
objections than most other materials. Glazed earthen 
ware is often used, the chief objection to it being its 
liability to break, and its weight. It is easily kept 
clean, however, and is next in value to tin, if not, indeed, 
equal to it. A tin skimmer is commonly used, some- 
what in the form of the bowl of a spoon, and pierced 
with holes, to remove the cream. In some sections of 
the country, a large white clam-shell is very commonly 
used instead of a skimmer made for the purpose, the 
chief objection to it being that the cream is not quite 
so carefully separated from the milk. 

A mode of avoiding the necessity of skimming has 
long been used to some extent in England, by which 
the milk is drawn off through a hole in the bottom of 
the pan. This plan is recommended by Unwerth, a 
German agriculturist, who proposes a pan represented 
in Fig. 74, made of block tin, oblong in shape, and hav- 
ing the inside corners carefully rounded. The pan is 
only two inches in depth, and is made large enough to 



224 THE SHALLOW DEPTH IN THE PAN. 

hold six or eight quarts of milk at the depth of one 
and a half inches. This shallowness greatly facilitates 

b 




the rapid separation of the cream, especially at a tem- 
perature somewhat elevated. A. strainer is shown in 
Pig. 75, pierced with holes, the centre half an inch 
lower than the rim, to which hooks are fixed to hold 
it to the top of the pan. On this a coarse linen cloth 




is laid, the milk being strained through both the cloth 
and the strainer, thus serving to separate all foreign 
substances in a thorough manner. 

In the bottom of the milk-pan, near one end, is an 
opening, a, through which the milk is drawn, after the 
cream is all risen or separated from it, by raising a 
brass pin, b. The opening is lined with brass, and is 
three fourths of an inch in diameter. Fig. 76 represents 
the tin cylinder magnified. This is pierced, to the 
height of an inch, with many small holes, diminishing in 
size towards the top. The cream is all risen in twenty- 



CHURNING BY HORSE POWER. 225 

four hours. The pin is then drawn from the cylinder, 
and the milk flows out, leaving the thick cream 7 which 
is prevented from flowing out by the smallness of the 
holes in the cylinder. 

With the form of pans in most common use in this 
country, which are circular, three or four inches deep, 
this shallow depth of milk causes a little more trouble 
in skimming ; but, if the principle is correct, the form 
and depth of the pan will be easily adapted to it. 

After the cream is removed, it is put into stone or 
earthen jars, and kept in a cool place till a sufficient 
quantity is accumulated to make it convenient to churn. 
If a sufficient number of cows is kept, it is far better 
to churn every day ; but in ordinary circumstances 
that may be oftener than is practicable. The more 
frequently the better ; and the advantages of frequent 
churning are so great that cream should never be kept 
longer than three or four days, where it is possible to 
churn so often. 

The mode of churning in one of the many good 
dairies in Pennsylvania, — that of Mr. J. Comfort, of 
Montgomery county, — is as follows : He uses a large 
barrel-shaped churn, of the size of about two hogsheads, 
hung on journals supported by a framework in an adjoin- 
ing building. It is worked by machinery in a rotatory 
motion, by a horse travelling around in a circle. The 
churning commences about four o'clock in the morn- 
ing in summer, the cream being poured into the churn 
and the horse started. When the butter has come, a 
part of the butter-milk is removed by a vent-hole in the 
churn. Then, without beating the mass together, as is 
usual, a portion of the butter and its butter-milk is taken 
out by the spatula and placed in the bottom of a tub 
covered with fine salt, and spread out equally to a 
proper depth ; then the surface of this butter is cov- 

15 



226 



FORMS OF THE CHURN 



ered with salt, and another portion of butter and 
butter-rnilk taken from the churn and spread over the 
salted surface in the same manner, and salted as before, 
thus making a succession of layers, till the tub is full. 
The whole is then covered with a white cloth, and 
allowed to stand a while. A part of this butter, say 
eight or ten pounds, is then taken from the tub and laid 
on a marble table (Fig. 80), grooved around the edges, 
and slightly inclined, with a place in the groove for the 
butter-milk and whey to escape. It is then worked by 
a butter-worker or brake, turning on a swivel-joint, 
which perfectly and completely removes the butter-milk, 
and flattens out the butter into a thin mass ; then the 
surface is wiped by a cloth laid over it, and the working 
and wiping repeated till the cloth adheres to the butter, 
which indicates that the butter is dry 
enough, when it is separated into pound 
lumps, weighed and stamped, ready for 
market. The rest of the butter in the 
tub is treated in the same way. 

It will be seen that this method 
avoids the ordinary washing with water, 
not a drop of water being used, from 
beginning to the end. It avoids also 
the working by hand, which in warm 
weather has a tendency to soften the 
butter. In the space of about an hour 
a hundred pounds are thus made, and its 
beautiful color and fragrance preserved. 
If it happens to come from the churn 
soft, it hardens by standing a little 
longer in the brine. 

The most common form of the churn 
in small dairies is the upright or dash- 
churn, Fig. 77 ; but many other forms 




MODE OF CHUENING, 



227 



are iu extensive use, each possessing, doubtless, more 
or less merit peculiar to itself. The cylinder churn, 

Fig. 78, is very simply 
constructed, and capable of 
being easily cleaned. Some 
prefer the thermometer 
churn, Fig. 79, having an 
attachment for 
the temperature 
cream. 

As already stated, there 
are two modes of practice 
with regard to the pro- 
cess of churning, each of which has its advantages. 
The milk itself may be churned, or it may be set in 
the milk-room for the cream to rise, which is to be 




indicating 
of the 




Fig. 19. 

churned by itself. The former is the practice of a 
successful dairyman of New York, who, in his state- 
ment, says: " I take care to have my cellar thoroughly 
cleansed and whitewashed early every spring. I keep 



228 CHURNING MILK. — SQUARE BOX CHURN. 

milk in one cellar, and butter in another. Too much 
care cannot be taken by dairymen to observe the time 
of churning. I usually churn from one hour to one 
hour and a half, putting from one to two pails of cold 
water in each churn. When the butter has come, I 
take it out, wash it through one water, set it in the 
cellar and salt it, then work it from three to five 
times before packing. Butter should not be made quite 
salt enough until the last working. Then add a little 
salt, which makes a brine that keeps the butter sweet. 
One ounce of salt to a pound of butter is about the 
quantity I use. I pack the first clay, if the weather is 
cool ; if warm, the second. If the milk is too warm 
when churned, the quantity of butter will be less, and 
the quality and flavor not so good as when it is at a 
a proper temperature, which, for churning milk, is from 
60° to 65°." 

But, whichever course it is thought best to adopt, 
whether the milk or cream is churned, it is the concus- 
sion, rather than the motion, which serves to bring the 
butter. This may be produced in the simple square box 
as well as by the dasher churn ; and it is the opinion of 
a scientific gentleman with whom I have conversed on 
the subject, that the perfect square is the best form of 
the churn ever invented. The cream or milk in this 
churn has a peculiar compound motion, and the concus- 
sion on the corners and right-angled sides is very great, 
and causes the butter to come as rapidly as it is judi- 
cious to have it. This churn consists of a simple square 
box, which any one who can handle a saw and plane can 
make, hung on axles turned by a crank somewhat like 
the barrel churn. No dasher is required. If any one 
is inclined to doubt the superiority of this form over all 
others, he can easily try it and satisfy himself. It costs 
but little. 



CHURNING THE CREAM. 229 

In some sections the milk is churned soon after milk- 
ing ; in others, the night's and morning's milk are mixed 
together, and churned at noon ; in others, the cream is 
allowed to rise, when the milk is curdled, and cream, 
curd, and whey, are all churned together. 

A successful instance of churning only the cream 
is found in the statement of Mr. Lincoln, who received 
the first dairy premium of the Massachusetts Society for 
the Promotion of Agriculture. He says : " The cream, 
as it is skimmed, is poured into stone pots, which in 
warm weather are kept in a refrigerator, and during the 
winter stand in the milk-room. The times of churning 
depend upon the quantity of cream. 

" The time usually occupied in churning is from fifty 
minutes upwards. This is deemed a matter of import- 
ance. "We consider it much better to bring the cream 
to the degree of temperature necessary to the forma- 
tion of butter by a steady, moderate agitation, than to 
use artificial heat to take it to that point before com- 
mencing to churn. By such moderate, long-continued 
agitations, we think the butter has a firmer, more waxy 
consistence than it can have by more rapid churning. 
The churn used is ' Gait's.' Numerous trials have been 
made with many of the other kinds of churns in com- 
parison with this, and the result has been uniformly 
favorable to this patent. 

" When the butter has come, the butter-milk is drawn 
off, and the butter, after being thoroughly worked, is 
salted with from one half to three fourths ounces of 
salt to the pound. It is now set away for twenty-four 
hours, when it is again worked over thoroughly, and 
made into pound lumps with wooden l spatters.' After 
standing another twenty-four hours, it is sent into 
market. In ' working ' butter we use a table over 
which a fluted roller is made to pass (Fig. 80), rolling 
20 



230 PHILADELPHIA BUTTEE. 

out the butter into a thin sheet, and completely and 
entirely depriving it of butter-milk. 

" From many years' experience, the observation is 
warranted, that by no other process of manufacture 
can the butter-milk be so completely extracted. I am 
aware of the truth of the objection made that the 
shrinkage occasioned by its use is too great : yet there 
is, in fact, a difference in the worth of the butter made 
upon it, over that manufactured in the ordinary way, 
quite equal to the loss in weight occasioned by it." 

The high reputation of Philadelphia butter being so 
well known, I was desirous of ascertaining the opinions 
of practical men as to what this was due, — whether to 
any peculiar richness of the pasturage, or to the careful 
mode of manufacture. In reply to my inquiries, I have 
received satisfactory statements from several sources, 
and among them the following communication from one 
of the most successful of the butter-makers who supply 
that market. " The high reputation of Philadelphia but- 
ter," he says, "is owing to the manner of its manufacture, 
though I would not say that the sweet-scented vernal 
and other natural grasses do not add to the fine quality 
of well-made butter. 

"In proof of what I say, I would refer to the experi- 
ence of my brother, who is the owner of two farms. 
His tenant, an excellent butter-maker, lived on one 
farm, and made a very fine article, which brought the 
highest prices. He moved to the other farm, where 
the former tenant had never made good butter, and had 
ascribed his want of success to the spring-house. On 
this farm he succeeded in establishing a higher repu- 
tation than he ever had before. The tenant who fol- 
lowed him on the first farm never succeeded in gaining 
a reputation for good butter, his inability arising from 
his ignorance of the proper mode of manufacture, and 



MODE OP MAKING. 231 

his unwillingness to improve by the experience of 
others. 

" Only a part of the information as to the best mode 
of manufacture can be given, so much depends on the 
judgment and experience of the operator. The first 
thing required is to provide a suitable place. This 
should be, for the summer months, a well-ventilated 
house, over a good spring of water. The second 
requisite will be proper vessels to hold the milk and 
cream, and for churning. A table is needed which shall 
not be used for any other purpose than for working and 
printing the butter on. I have always used a lever in 
connection with the table (Fig. 80). A large sponge, 
with a linen cloth to cover it, with which the milk can be 
removed from the butter, is another important article ; 
and then a skimmer, either of wood or tin, or both, as 
may be necessary in the different states of the milk ; a 
thermometer, and a boiler convenient for heating water 
for cleansing the vessels. No person can expect to 
make good butter without the greatest attention to the 
cleanliness of the vessels used for the milk and cream, 
and care in exposing them to the sun and air. 

" After the milk has been brought from the yard or 
stable, strain it immediately into the pans, in which has 
been put a little sour milk from which the cream has 
been removed, the quantity varying from a tablespoon- 
ful to half a common teacupful, according to the state 
of the weather. In very warm weather the smaller 
quantity is sufficient. But the rule for warm weather 
will not always hold good ; for, from the electrical state 
of the atmosphere, the milk may sour either too slow or 
too fast. 

" The pans containing the milk should then be set into 
the water, if the weather be hot: and here is a point where 
the operator should exercise his or her judgment ; for 



232 USE OF THE SPONGE. 

even in warm weather it may be necessary to draw off 
the water from the milk, if the spring be cold. The milk 
should remain there, under no circumstances, longer 
than the fourth meal, or forty-eight hours ; but thirty- 
six hours is much to be preferred, if the milk has 
become thick, or the cream sufficiently raised, when it 
should be taken off carefully, so as not to take any 
sour milk with it, and put in the cream-pot. When the 
cream-pot is full, sprinkle a small handful of fine salt 
over the top of the cream, and let it remain. Our 
custom has been, when making butter but once a week, 
to pour the cream into a clean vessel at the end of 
three days, keeping back any milk that might have been 
taken up with the cream, which is found at the bottom 
of the jar. 

"I would mention that it is essential, in making a fine 
article, to keep the cream clear of milk. The next ope- 
ration will be preparatory to churning, by straining the 
cream, and reducing the temperature of the churn by 
the use of the cold spring-water. The operation of 
churning should neither be protracted nor hastened too 
much. After the butter has made its appearance of the 
size of a small pea, draw off the milk, and throw in a 
small amount of cold water, and gather it. After the 
butter has been taken from the churn, it is placed upon 
the table, worked over by the lever, and salted ; then 
worked again with the lever, in connection with the 
sponge and cloth, a pan of cold water being at hand, 
with a piece of ice in it in summer, into which you 
throw the cloth and sponge frequentty, and wring out 
dry before again using it. These, as well as every 
other article which will come into contact with the 
butter, must be scalded, and afterward, as well as the 
hands, placed in cold water. I would here add that the 
use of the sponge is one of the important points in mak- 



THE WINTER DAIRY. 233 

ing butter to keep well; for by it you can remove 
almost every particle of butter-milk, which is the great 
agent in the destruction of its sweetness and solidity. 
For the winter dairy a room in which is placed a stove 
should be provided, which can be made warm, and also 
well ventilated. I prefer the use of coal, on account of 
keeping the fire through the night. My dairy-room is 
adjoining the spring-house, and connects with it, which 
I consider important. This room should be used for 
no other purpose, as cream and butter are the greatest 
absorbents of effluvia with which I am acquainted. I 
have known good butter to be spoiled by being placed 
over night in a close closet. 

" The thermometer should always accompany the 
winter dairy. There is one thing very important in 
the winter dairy, which, perhaps, I should have placed 
first, and that is the food of the cows; for, without 
something else than hay, you will not make very fine 
butter. Mill-feed and corn-meal I consider about the 
best for yield and quality, although there are many 
other articles of food which will be useful, and con- 
tribute to the appetite and health of the cattle. 

" The process for the winter dairy is similar to that 
of the summer, with the exception of the regulation as 
to the temperature of room, etc., which is as follows : 

" Particular care should be taken not to let the milk 
get cold before placing it in the dairy-room; for, should 
it be completely chilled, the cream will not rise well. 
Add about a gill of warm water to the sour milk for 
each pan, before straining into it, which will greatly 
facilitate the rising of the cream. Keep the tempera- 
ture of the room as near fifty-eight degrees, Fahrenheit, 
as possible, and guard against the air being dry by 
having a small vessel of water upon the stove, or else 
a dry coat will form on the surface of the cream. The 
20* 



234 THE GEEAT SECEET. 

cream should be kept in a colder place than the dairy- 
room until the night before churning, when it might be 
placed in the warm room, so that its temperature shall 
be about 58°. 

"The churn may be prepared by scalding it, and then 
reduced to the same temperature as the cream by cold 
water, using the thermometer as a test. 

" This regulation of temperature is of the greatest 
importance : for, should it be too low, you will be a 
long time churning, and have poor, tasteless butter ; if 
too high, the butter will be soft and white." 

What is especially noticeable in the above statement 
is the use of the sponge, and the thorough and complete 
removal of all the butter-milk. Here is probably the 
secret of success, after all. I have given the statement 
in full, notwithstanding its length, on account of the 
well-known excellence of the butter produced by the 
process, as well as for the suggestions with regard to 
the dairy-rooms, and not because I can recommend all 
its details for the imitation of others. The use of sour 
milk in the pans is based, I suppose, on the idea that 
the cream does not begin to rise till acidity commences 
in the milk, — an idea which was once pretty generally 
entertained ; but the process of souring undoubtedly 
commences, though imperceptible to the senses, very 
soon after the milk comes to rest in the pan. At any 
rate, there is no doubt that the separation of the butter 
from the other substances commences at once, and 
without the addition of any foreign substance to the 
milk. 

Nor do I believe there is any necessity for the milk 
to stand over twenty-four hours in any case ; for I have 
no doubt that all the best of the cream rises within the 
first twelve hours, under favorable circumstances, and 
I am inclined to think that whatever is added to the 



THE TIME TO EISE. 



235 



quantity of cream after twenty-four hours, detracts 
from the quality of the butter to an extent which more 
than counterbalances the whole of the quantity. 

Many good dairy-women make an exceedingly fine 
article, in spite of the defects of some parts of the pro- 
cess of manufacture. This does not show that they 
would not make still better butter if they remedied 
these defects. 

The more we can retard the development of acidity 
in the milk, within certain limits, the more cream may 
we expect to get ; and hence some use artificial means 
for this purpose, mixing in the milk a little crystallized 
soda, dissolved in twice its volume of water, which 
corrects the acidity as soon as it forms. It is a perfectly 
harmless addition, and increases the product of the 
butter, and improves its quality. But under ordinarily 
favorable circumstances, from twelve to eighteen hours 
will be sufficient to raise all the cream in summer, and 
from twenty to thirty houra in winter. 




80. Butter-worker. 

The butter-worker, Fig. 80, with its marble top, 
used by the writer of the statement above, is an im- 



236 



CREAM IN A WELL. 




portant addition to the implements of the dairy. It 

effects the complete 
removal of the butter- 
milk, without the ne- 
cessity of bringing the 
hands in contact with 
it. Another form of the 
lever butter-worker is 
seen in Fig. 81. 
To keep the cream properly after it is placed away 
in pots or jars, it should stand in a cool place, and 
whenever additions of fresh cream are made, they 
should be stirred in. Many keep the cream, as well as 
the butter, in the well, in hot weather. This is the 
practice of Mr. Horsfall, whose experiments have been 
alluded to. Finding his butter inclined to be soft, he 
lowered a thermometer twenty-eight feet into the well, 
and found it indicated 43°, the temperature of the sur- 
face being 70°. He then let down the butter, and found 
it somewhat improved ; and soon after began to lower 
down the cream, by means of a movable windlass and a 
rope, the cream-jar being placed in a basket hung on 
the rope. The cream was let down on the evening 
previous to churning, and drawn up in the morning and 
immediately churned. The time of churning the cream 
at this temperature would be as long as in winter, and 
the butter was found to have the same consistency. 

The same object is effected in this country by the use 
of ice in many sections ; but, if the butter remains too 
long on ice, or in an ice-house, it is apt to become 
bleached, and lose its natural and delicate straw-color. 

The time of churning is by no means an unimportant 
matter. Various contrivances have been made to short- 
en this operation ; but the opinions of the best and 
most successful dairymen concur that it cannot be too 



MODE OF PACKING. 237 

much hastened without injuring the fine quality and 
consistency of the butter. The time required depends 
much on the temperature of the cream; and this can be 
regulated at convenience, as indicated above. 

The temperature of the dairy-room should be as 
uniform as possible. The practice of the best and most 
successful dairymen differs in respect to the degree to 
which it should be kept ; but the range is from 52° to 
62° Fahr., and I am inclined to think from 58° to 60° the 
best. At 60°, with a current of fresh, pure air passing 
over it, the cream will rise very rapidly and abundantly. 

The greatest density of milk is at about 41°, and 
cream rises with great difficulty and slowness as the 
temperature falls below 50° towards that point. 

A practical butter dealer of New York gives the fol- 
lowing as the best mode of packing butter, or putting 
it up for a distant market. The greatest care, he says, 
should be taken to free the butter entirely from milk, 
by working it and washing it after churning at a tem- 
perature so low as to prevent it from losing its granular 
character and becoming greasy. The character of the 
product depends in a great measure on the temperature 
of churning and working, which should be between 
sixty and seventy degrees Fahr. If free from milk, 
eight ounces of Ashton salt is sufficient for ten pounds. 
"Western salt should never be used, as it injures the 
flavor. While packing, the contents of the firkin should 
be kept from the air by being covered with saturated 
brine. No undissolved salt should be put in the bottom 
of the firkin. 

Goshen butter is reputed best, though much is put up 
in imitation of it, and sold at the same price. Great 
care should be taken to have the firkins neat and clean. 
They should be of white oak, with hickory hoops, and 
should hold about eighty pounds. Wood excludes air 



238 FIRKINS. LUMP BUTTER. 

better than stone, and consequently keeps butter bet- 
ter. Tubs are better than pots. 

Western butter comes in coarse, ugly packages; even 
flour and pork barrels are sometimes used. Much of it 
must be worked over and re-packed here before it will 
sell. It generally contains a good deal of milk, and if 
not re-worked soon becomes rancid. Improper pack- 
ing, in kegs too large and soiled on the outside, makes at 
least three cents a pound difference. Whatever the 
size of the firkin, it must be perfectly tight and quite 
full of butter, so that when opened the brine, though 
present, will not be found on the top. 

Until the middle of May, dairymen should pack in 
quarter firkins or tubs, with white oak covers, and send 
directly to market as fresh butter. From this time until 
the fall frost there is but little change in color and 
flavor with the same dairy, and it may be packed in 
whole firkins, and kept in a cool place. The fall butter 
should also be packed separately in tubs. 

In the vicinity of good markets, it is most frequently 
done up in pound lumps, neatly stamped and tastefully 
prepared, so as to please the eye as well as the taste. 
No artificial coloring matter is needed with butter from 
rich milk and summer pastures. In winter the color will 
depend somewhat on the richness of food given to the 
cows, but will not be so yellow and rich as at other 
times. Grains and carrots produce a richer straw- 
color than dry hay alone. 

As already seen, in the statements of practical dairy- 
men, the greatest care is required in the salting or sea- 
soning. Over-salted butter is not only less palatable to 
the taste, but less healthy than fresh, sweet butter. The 
same degree of care is needed with respect to the box 
in which it is packed. I have often seen the best and 
richest-flavored butter spoilt by sending it to the exhibi- 



A NEW PROCESS. 239 

tion or to market in new and improper boxes. A new 
pine-wood box should always be avoided. 

Butter that has been thoroughly worked, and per- 
fectly freed from butter-milk, is of a firm and waxy con- 
sistence, so as scarcely to dim the polish of the blade 
of a knife thrust into it, leaving upon it only a slight 
dew as it is withdrawn. If it is soft in texture, and 
leaves greasy streaks of butter-milk upon the knife that 
cuts it, or upon the cut surface after the blade is with- 
drawn, it shows an imperfect and defective process of 
manufacture, and is of poor quality, and will be liable 
to become rancid. 

An exceedingly delicate and fine-flavored butter may 
be made by wrapping the cream in a napkin or clean 
cloth, and burying it, a foot deep or more, in the earth, 
from twelve to twenty hours. This experiment I have 
repeatedly tried with complete success, and have never 
tasted butter superior to that produced by this method. 
It requires to be salted to the taste as much as butter 
made by any other process. A tenacious subsoil loam 
would seem to be best. After putting the cream into 
a clean cloth, the whole should be surrounded by a 
coarse towel. The butter thus produced is white 
instead of yellow or straw-color. 

Butter has been analyzed by Prof. "Way, with the fol- 
lowing result : 

Pure fat, or oil, 82.70 

Caseine, or curd, 2.45 

Water, with a little salt, 14.85 = 100 

The fat or oil peculiar to butter is in winter more 
solid than in summer, and known as margarine fat, 
while that of summer is known as liquid or oleine fat. 
The proportions in which these are found in ordinary 



240 THE FAT OF BUTTER. — ICE. 

butter have been stated by Prof. Thomson, as follows: 

Summer, 'Winter. 

Solid or margarine fat, 40 65 

Liquid or oleine fat, 60 35 

100 100 

Winter butter appears to be rich and fine in propor- 
tion as the oleine fat increases. The proportion is 
undoubtedly dependent on the food. 

A more general attention to the details of butter- 
making, and to the best modes of preserving its good 
qualities, would add many thousands of dollars to the 
aggregate profits of our American dairies. 

In the management of the dairy, an ice-house and a 
good quantity of ice for summer use are not only very 
convenient for regulating the temperature of the dairy- 
room, and for keeping butter at the proper consistence, 
and preserving it,but are also profitable in other respects. 
And now, when ice-houses are so easily constructed, and 
ice is so readily procured, no well-ordered dairy should 
be without a liberal supply of it. It is housed at a time 
when other farm-work is not pressing, and ponds are so 
distributed over the country that it may be generally pro- 
cured without difficulty ; but where ponds or streams are 
at too great a distance from the dairy-house, an artificial 
pond can be easily made, by damming up the outlet of 
some spring in the neighborhood. Where this is done, 
the utmost care should be taken to keep the water per- 
fectly clean when the ice is forming. The ice-house 
should be above ground, and in a dry, airy place. The 
top of a dry knoll is better than a low, damp shade. 
The ice may be packed in tan, sawdust, shavings, or 
other non-conductors, and when wanted for use it 
should be taken off the top. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE CHEESE-DAIRY. 

" Streams of new milk through flowing coolers stray, 
And snow-white curds abound, and wholesome whey." 

Milk, if allowed to become sour, will eventually 
curdle, when the whey is easily separated : and this 
simple mode was probably the universal method of 
making cheese in ancient times. Cheese, as already 
explained, is made from caseine, an ingredient of milk 
held in solution by means of an alkali, which it re- 
quires the presence of an acid to neutralize. This, in 
modern manufacture, is artificially added to form the 
curd ; but the acidity of milk, after standing, acts in 
the same manner to produce coagulation. This is due 
to the change of the milk-sugar into lactic acid. 

Cheese has been made and used as an article of food 
from a very early date. It was well known to the early 
Jewish patriarchs, and is frequently mentioned in the 
earliest Hebrew records. " Hast thou not poured me 
out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?" says Job ; and 
David was sent to " carry ten cheeses to the captain of 
their thousand in the camp." Most of the ancient 
nations, indeed, barbarous as well as civilized, made it 
a prominent article of food. But cheese, as made by 
the ancients, was found to be hard and brittle, and not 
well flavored, and means were devised to produce the 
same effect while the milk still remained sweet. It was 
21 16 



242 CHEESE. — ITS EICHNESS. 

observed that acids of various kinds would answer, and 
vinegar was used ; and cream of tartar, muriatic acid, and 
sour milk, added to sweet, produced a rapid coagulation. 
In Sweden, Norway, and other countries, a handful of the 
plant known as butterwort (Pinguicula vulgaris)'^ some- 
times mixed with the food of the cow, to cause the milk 
to coagulate readily. A few hours after milking, the curd 
is formed without the addition of an acid. Milk taken 
into the stomach of the calf was found to curdle rapidly, 
even while sweet ; and hence the use of rennet, which is 
simply the stomach of the calf, prepared by washing, 
salting, and drying, for preservation. This acts the 
most surely, and, if properly prepared and preserved, is 
the least objectionable, of any article now known ; and 
is, in fact, the natural mode of curdling the milk as it 
enters the stomach, preparatory to the process of diges- 
tion. Besides this, it is generally the cheapest and 
most available for the farmer. 

The richness of cheese depends very much upon the 
amount of butter or oily matter it contains. It may be 
made entirely of cream, or from whole or unskimmed 
milk, to which the cream of other milk is added, or 
from milk from which a part of its cream has been 
taken, or from ordinary skim-milk, or from milk that 
has been skimmed three or four times, so as to remove 
nearly every particle of cream, or from butter-milk. 
The acid used in curdling milk acts upon the caseine 
alone, and not upon the butter particles, which are 
imbedded in the curd as it hardens, and thus increase 
its richness and flavor without adding to its con- 
sistency, which is due to the caseine. 

It is evident, therefore, that cheese made entirely of 
cream cannot have the firmness and consistence of 
ordinary cheese. It is only made for immediate use, 
and cannot be long kept. It is, in fact, little more than 



PROCESS OF MAKING. 243 

thick, dried, sweet cream, from which all the milk has 
been pressed. On the other hand, skim-milk cheese 
has the opposite fault of being too hard and tough, and 
destitute of flavor and richness. The best quality of 
cheese is made from full milk, or from milk to which 
some extra cream is added, as in the English Stilton, 
renowned for its richness and flavor. The Gloucester, 
Cheshire, Cheddar, Dunlop, and the Dutch G-oucla, are 
made of whole milk, as are the best qualities made in 
this country. 

The process of making cheese is both chemical and 
mechanical. The heating of the milk at the time of 
adding the acid or rennet hastens the chemical action, 
and facilitates the separation of the whey ; at the same 
time great nicety is required, for, if over-heated, the oily 
particles will run off with the whey. On the complete 
separation of the whey from the curd, and the amount 
of butter particles retained in the latter, the taste or 
flavor and keeping qualities of the cheese depend. If 
properly made, the taste improves by keeping, but the 
chemical changes effected by age are not very well 
understood. 

The practical process of manufacture most common 
in the best dairies of this country will appear in the fol- 
lowing statements of successful competitors at agricul- 
tural exhibitions. The first was made, by request, to 
the New York State Agricultural Society, and appeared 
in its transactions, by A. L. Fish, of Herkimer county, 
one of the finest dairy regions of that state. The 
value of his statement is enhanced by the fact that his 
cows averaged seven hundred pounds of the first 
quality of cheese each in 1844, and seven hundred and 
seventy-five pounds each in 1845. In his mode of 
manufacture, " the evening's and morning's milk is com- 
monly used to make one cheese. The evening's is 



244 AMERICAN CHEESE. 

strained into a tub or pans, and cooled to prevent 
souring. The proper mode of cooling is to strain the 
milk into the tin tub set in a wooden vat, described in 
the dairy-house, and cool by filling the wooden vat with 
ice-water from the ice-house, or ice in small lumps, and 
water from the pump. The little cream that rises over 
night is taken off in the morning, and kept till the 
morning and evening milk are put together, and the 
cream is warmed to receive the rennet. It is mixed 
with about twice its quantity of new milk, and warm 
water added to raise its temperature to ninety-eight 
degrees : stir it till perfectly limpid, put in rennet 
enough to curdle the milk in forty minutes, and mix it 
with the mass of milk by thorough stirring ; the milk 
having been previously raised to eighty-eight or ninety 
degrees, by passing steam from the steam generator to 
the water in the wooden'vat. In case no double vat is 
to be had, the milk may be safely heated to the right 
temperature, by setting a tin pail of hot water into the 
milk in the tubs. It may be cooled in like manner by 
filling the pail with ice-water, or cold spring-water 
where ice is not to be had. It is not safe to heat milk 
in a kettle exposed directly to the fire, as a slight 
scorching will communicate its taint to the whole 
cheese and spoil it. If milk is curdled below eighty- 
four degrees, the cream is more liable to work off with 
the whey. An extreme of heat will have a like effect. 
The curdling heat is varied with the temperature of 
the air, or the liability of the milk to cool after adding 
rennet. The thermometer is the only safe guide in 
determining the temperature ; for, if the dairyman 
depends upon the sensation of the hand, a great liability 
to error will render the operation uncertain. If, for 
instance, the hands have previously been immersed in 
cold water, the milk will feel warmer than it really is ; 



PRACTICAL DETAILS. 245 

if, on the contrary, they have recently been in warm 
water, the milk will feel colder than it really is. To 
satisfy the reader how much this circumstance alone 
will affect the sensation of the hand, let him immerse 
one hand in warm water, and at the same time keep the 
other in a vessel of cold water, for a few moments ; 
then pour the water in the two dishes together, and 
immerse both hands in the mixture. The hand that was 
previously in the warm water will feel cold, and the 
other quite warm, showing that the sense of feeling is 
not a test of temperature worthy of being relied upon. 
A fine cloth spread over the tub while the milk is curd- 
ling will prevent the surface from being cooled by cir- 
culation of air. No jarring of the milk, by walking 
upon a springy floor, or otherwise, should be allowed 
while it is curdling, as it will prevent a perfect cohesion 
of the particles. 

" When milk is curdled so as to appear like a solid, it 
is divided into small particles to aid the separation of 
the whey from the curd. This is often too speedily done 
to facilitate the work, but at a sacrifice of quality and 
quantity." 

To effect the fine division of the curd for the easy 
separation of the whey, Mr. Fish uses a wire network, 
made to fit into the tub, the meshes of fine wire being 
about a half-inch square, and the outer rim of coarse 
and stronger material. A cheese-knife is also used, 
about half as long as the diameter of the tub, and firmly 
fastened to the lower end of a long screw which passes 
through one end of the blade as it lies horizontally, 
leaving the blade at right angles with the screw, which 
has a coarse thread, and passes through a piece of 
wood on the top of the tub, held firm by notches at the 
ends laid on the edges of the tub. By turning a crank, 
the knife passes down through the curd in revolutions, 
21* 



246 HOW TO MAKE SAGE CHEESE. 

cutting it into layers of the thickness of the threads of 
the screw. 

The following is the statement of Mrs. Williams, of 
Windsor, Massachusetts, who received the first premium 
at the Franklin County Fair, in 1857, for exceedingly 
rich, fine, and delicately-flavored cheeses of seventy-five 
pounds each. Her method, which is the result of her 
own experience and observation, corresponds almost 
exactly, as the committee remark, with the English 
mode of making the famous Cheddar cheese, which is 
much the same as the Cheshire. Mrs. Williams says : 
" My cheese is made from one day's milk of twenty- 
nine cows. I strain the night's milk into a tub, skim it 
in the morning, and melt the cream in the morning's 
milk : I warm the night's milk, so that with the morn- 
ing's milk, when mixed together, it will be at the tem- 
perature of ninety-six degrees ; then add rennet suffi- 
cient to turn it in thirty minutes. Let it stand about half 
or three quarters of an hour; then cross it off and let it 
stand about thirty minutes, working upon it very care- 
fully with a skimmer. When the curd begins to settle, 
dip off the whey, and heat it up and pour it on again at 
the temperature of one hundred and two degrees. After 
draining off and cutting up, add a teacup of salt to four- 
teen pounds. 

" The process of making sage cheese is the same as the 
other, except adding the juice of the sage in a small 
quantity of milk." 

Another successful competitor in the same state says : 
" We usually make but one curd in a day. The night's 
milk is strained into pans till morning, when the cream 
that will have risen is taken off, and the milk warmed to 
blood heat, when the cream is again returned to the 
milk and thoroughly mixed. This prevents the melt- 
ing; of the cream that would otherwise run off with 



PEACTICAL STATEMENT. — RENNET. 247 

the whey. The whole is then immediately laded into a tub 
with the morning's milk, and set for the cheese, with 
rennet sufficient to form the curd in about thirty min- 
utes ; and here much care is thought to be necessary in 
cutting and crossing the curd, and much moderation in 
dipping and draining the whey from it, that the white 
whey (so called) may not exude from it. 

"When sufficiently drained, it is taken and cut with a 
sharp knife to about the size and form of dice, when it 
is salted with about one pound of fine salt to twenty- 
five of curd. It is then subjected to a moderate press- 
ure at first, gradually increasing it for two days, in the 
mean time turning it twice a day, and substituting dry 
cloths. It is then taken from the press and dressed all 
over with hot melted butter, and covered with thin cot- 
ton cloth, and this saturated with the melted butter. 
It is then placed upon the shelf, and turned and rubbed 
daily with the dressing until ripe for use." 

One of the most important processes in the manufac- 
ture of good cheese is the preparation of the rennet. 
This is made of the inner lining or mucous membrane 
of the stomach of the young sucking calf, sometimes 
called the bag or maw; and the use of it was undoubt- 
edly suggested, originally, by observing the complete 
and rapid coagulation or curdling of milk in the stom- 
ach of a calf newly killed. "Coagulation is the first pro- 
cess of digestion in the fourth stomach of the calf. There 
are numerous glands scattered in and about the stomach 
that secrete a fluid which readily and almost immedi- 
ately accomplishes this coagulation. They are always 
full of it ; even after the animal is dead they remain 
filled with it ; and if the stomach is preserved from 
putrefaction, this fluid retains its coagulating quality 
for a considerable period; therefore dairy-women usually 
take care of the maw or stomach of the calf, and pre- 



248 KENNET IN THE SCOTCH DAISIES. 

serve it by salting it, and then, by steeping it, or por- 
tions of it, in warm water, they prepare what they call 
a rennet. After the maw has been salted a certain time, 
it may be taken out and dried, and then it will retain 
the same property for an indefinite period. A small 
piece of the maw thus dried is steeped over night in a 
few teaspoonfuls of warm water, and this water will 
turn the milk of three or four cows." 

It is important that rennet enough should be pre- 
pared at once for the whole season, in order to secure 
as great a uniformity in strength as possible. The 
object should be to produce a prompt, complete, and 
firm or compact coagulation of all the cheesy matter. 

Mr. Aiton, in his admirable treatise on the Dairy Hus- 
bandry of Scotland, gives the simple method of prepar- 
ing the rennet in the dairy districts, as follows : " When 
the stomach or bag — usually termed the yirning — is 
taken from the calf's body, its contents are examined, 
and if any straw or other food is found among the 
curdled milk, such impurity is carefully removed ; but 
all the curdled milk found in the bag is carefully pre- 
served, and no part of the chyle is washed out. A 
considerable quantity of salt — at least two handfuls — 
is put into and outside the bag, which is then rolled up 
and hung near a fire to dry. It is always allowed to 
hang until it is well dried, and is understood to be 
improved by hanging a year or longer before being 
infused. 

" When rennet is wanted, the yirning with its contents 
is cut small, and put into a jar with a handful or two of 
salt ; and a quantity of soft water that has been boiled 
and cooled to sixty -five degrees, or of new whey taken 
off the curd, is poured into it. The quantity of water 
or whey necessary is more or less, according to the 
quality of the yirning: if it is that of a new-dropped 



RENNET IN AMERICAN DAIRIES. 249 

calf, a Scotch chop pin, or at most three English pints, 
will be enough ; but if the calf has been fed four or 
five weeks, two quarts or more may be used : the yirn- 
ing of a calf four weeks old yields more rennet than 
that of one twice that age. When the infusion has 
remained in the jar from one to three days, the liquid is 
drawn off and strained, after which it is bottled for use; 
and if a dram-glass of any ardent spirit is put into each 
bottle, the infusion may either be used immediately, or 
kept as long as may be convenient." 

The mode of preparing rennet in the dairy districts 
of this country is various ; but that adopted by Mr. 
Fish, of Herkimer, New York, already quoted, is simple 
and easy of application. He says : " Various opinions 
exist as to the best mode of saving rennet, and that is 
generally adopted which, it is supposed, will curdle the 
most milk. I have no objection to any mode that will 
preserve its strength and flavor so that it will be smelled 
and tasted with good relish when put into the milk. Any 
composition not thus kept I deem unfit for use, as the 
coagulator is an essential agent in cheesing the curd, 
and sure to impart its own flavor. 

" The rennet never should be taken from the calf till 
the excrement shows the animal to be in perfect health. 
It should be emptied of its contents, salted, and dried, 
without any scraping or rinsing, and kept dry for one 
3 r ear, when it will be fit for use. It should not be 
allowed to gather dampness, or its strength will evap- 
orate. To prepare it for use, into ten gallons of water, 
blood warm, put ten rennets ; churn or rub them often 
for twenty-four hours ; then rub and press them to get 
the strength ; stretch, salt, and dry them, as before. 
They will gain strength for a second use. Make the 
liquor as salt as it can be made, strain and settle it, sep- 
arate it from the sediment, if any, and it is fit for use. 



250 ANNATTO FOE COLORING.' 

Six lemons, two ounces of cloves, two ounces of cinna- 
mon, and two ounces of common sage, are sometimes 
added to the liquor, to preserve its flavor and quicken 
its action. If kept cool in a stone jar, it will keep 
sweet any length of time desired, and a uniform strength 
is secured while it lasts. Stir it before clipping off. To 
set milk, take of it enough to curdle milk firm in forty 
minutes ; squeeze or rub through a rag annatto enough 
to make the curd a cream color, and stir it in with the 
rennet." It will be seen that he adopts the practice of 
removing the contents of the stomach. This, it appears 
to me, is the best calculated to promote cleanliness and 
purity, so important in making a good-flavored cheese. 

But in Cheshire, so celebrated for its superior cheese, 
the contents of the stomach are frequently salted by 
themselves, and after being a short time exposed to the 
air are fit for use ; while the well-known and highly- 
esteemed Limburg cheese is mostly made with rennet 
prepared as in Ayrshire, the curd being left in the 
stomach, and both dried together. The general opinion 
is that rennet, as usually prepared, is not fit to use till 
nearly a year old. 

Perhaps the plan of making a liquid rennet from new 
and fresh stomachs, and keeping it in bottles corked 
tight till wanted for use, would tend still further to 
secure this end. 

The use of annatto to color the cheese artificially is 
somewhat common in this country, though probably not 
so much so as in many other countries. Annatto, or 
annotto, is made from the red pulp of the seeds of an 
evergreen tree of the same name, found in the West 
Indies and in Brazil, by bruising and obtaining a precip- 
itate. A variety is made in Cayenne, which comes into 
the market in cakes of two or three pounds. It is bright 
yellow, rather soft to the touch, but of considerable 



THE CHEESE-PEESS. 



251 



solidity. The quantity used is rarely more than an 
ounce to one hundred pounds, and the effect is simply 
to give the high coloring so common to the Gloucester 
and Cheshire cheeses, and to many made in this coun- 
try. This artificial coloring is continued from an 
idle prejudice, somewhat troublesome to the dairyman, 
expensive to the consumer, and adding nothing to the 
taste or flavor of the article. The annatto itself is so 
universally and so largely adulterated, often by poison- 
ous substances, such as lead and mercury, that the prac- 
tice of using it by the cheese-maker, and of requiring the 
high coloring by the consumer, might well be discon- 
tinued. The common mode of application is to dissolve it 




Fig. 82. Cheese-press. 

in hot milk, and add at the time of putting in the rennet, 
or to put it upon the outside, in the manner of paint. 
The cheese-presses in most common use are very dif- 



252 



THERMOMETER. 



TEMPERATURE. 



ferent in construction, and each possesses, doubtless, 
some peculiar merits. The self-acting press, Fig. 82, is 
the favorite of some. Another form of this is seen in 
Fig. 83. 




Fig. 83. Self-acting cheese-press. 

One of the most extensive and experienced dealers in 
cheese, in one of the largest dairy districts of New York, 
— Mr. Harry Burrill, of Little Falls, — has placed in 
my hands the following simple directions for cheese- 
making. 

The cheese-tub should be so graduated that it may 
be correctly known what quantity of milk is used. This 
is requisite, in order that the proper proportions, both 
of coloring matter and rennet, may be used. The tem- 
perature should be ascertained by the thermometer. 
Experience proves that when the dairy has been at 



PEACTICAL DIEECTIONS. 253 

seventy degrees the best temperature at which to run the 
milk will be eighty-four degrees; but, as the temperature 
of the dairy at different times of the year will be found 
to varj^ above or below seventy degrees, the temperature 
of the milk must be proportionally regulated by the 
simple addition of cold water^ to lower it ; but, to in- 
crease the temperature, heat the milk in the usual man- 
ner, although it is absolutely necessary to avoid heating 
it beyond one hundred and twenty degrees. 

After having brought the milk to the required tempera- 
ture, and added the coloring, for every quarter hundred 
weight of cheese mix one pint of new sour whey with the 
requisite proportion of rennet ; and, having arrived at 
the formation of a good curd, which will be the invari- 
able result of a strict adhesion to the foregoing rules, 
let it be carefully cut up with three-bladed knives, as 
fine as possible ; then dip off half the whey, and heat a 
portion of it to the temperature of ninety-five degrees, 
and return it to the whey and curds; then, after stirring- 
it for five minutes, allow the curd to sink, and as quickly 
as possible dip off the whey. Having done this, press 
the curd by placing on it a board weighted with from 
three to five fifty-pound weights, which will gradually 
and effectually press the remainder of the whey out. 

When the whey is dipped off, put the curd into white 
twig basket-vats, made the shape and size of a turned 
vat, which would contain the sixth of a hundred weight 
(about three inches deep, and two feet in diameter). It 
will be necessaiy to have boards about one inch thick, 
and two feet four inches in diameter, to go between 
each of these twig vats, to prevent the whey running 
from one vat into the other. When it has been pressed, 
return it again into the cheese-tub, cut it into small 
pieces, put it into the vats again in dry cloths, press it 
and return it to the tub again, cutting it into small 
22 



254 FINE COAT. — VARIETIES. 

pieces, and to every hundred weight of curd add one 
and one quarter pounds of salt ; grind it twice, and stir 
it so that it shall be properly mixed with the salt ; then 
put it into well-perforated turned vats, taking care to 
press it thoroughly whilst the vats are filling, to prevent 
the accumulation of air, to the presence of which is to 
be attributed the honeycomb appearance so often ob- 
served in cheese when cut. 

When the cheese is put into the press let the press- 
ure gradually upon it. After it has been in press 
one and a half hours, take it out and examine it, and, 
should there be any curd pressed over, cut it round 
and put it into the middle of the cheese, carefully break- 
ing it up in the middle. Wash the ends of the cloths 
out in a bowl of warm water, squeeze them, and cover 
the cheese up, and, if there should be any not sufficiently 
full, it will be necessary either to put a follower upon it, 
or to put it into a smaller vat ; in the evening let them 
be dry clothed. The following morning salt them all 
over and dry cloth them, and repeat this three suc- 
cessive mornings ; after which, put them in vats, placed 
one on the other, and allow them to stand, if possible, 
a fortnight, occasionally wiping them. The cheese 
will get matured much sooner by these means, and the 
tendency to cracking and bulging be prevented. 

The way to get a fine coat upon cheese, after the first 
coat has been washed and scraped off, is to put the 
cheese on shelves, nail thick sheeting to the ceiling from 
one of the shelves to the other, and let it drop closely 
to the floor. If put over the floor, cover them over 
with thick sheeting, or rugs. 

The varieties of cheese are almost infinite in num- 
ber, and are often dependent on very minute details of 
practice. The general principles involved are the same 
in all ; but it would be next to impossible to find any 



TO WHAT VAKIETIES ARE OWIKG. 255 

one variety of cheese possessing uniformity through- 
out, in point of texture, consistency, taste, flavor, and 
keeping qualities ; and it is rare, with the present guess- 
work in many of the operations of cheese-making, to 
find a lot of cheese made in the same dairy, from the 
same cows, on the same pastures, and by the same 
hands, which can be considered a fair sample of what is 
generally produced. These great differences are due 
to feeding and treatment of the cows in part, but 
especially to the temperature of the milk at the time 
of curding, which is again in part dependent on the 
quality and strength of the rennet employed. 

Nothing is more susceptible to external influences, 
as has been remarked elsewhere, than milk and cream, 
both of which are liable to taint from the food of the 
cows, from impurities derived from careless milking, 
from exposure to foul or impure air in the cellar or 
milk-room, and from sudden changes in the atmosphere. 
The most scrupulous cleanliness is, therefore, required 
to produce a first quality of cheese, even under favor- 
able circumstances. And when it is considered that it 
is necessary to observe minutely the temperature of 
the milk, and that slight differences at the time of 
forming the curd may make the difference of mellow- 
ness or toughness in the ripened cheese, and that the 
proper temperature is affected by the time taken to 
bring the curd, which depends on the strength and 
quality of the rennet, some of which will act in fifteen 
or twenty minutes, while the same quantity of others 
requires even two or three hours to produce the same 
effect, the infinite variety in the qualities of cheese will 
scarcely be a matter of surprise. 

A brief statement of the mode of making some of 
the more important and well-known varieties will be suf- 
ficient in this connection. The details of cheese-making 



256 CHESHIEE CHEESE. 

in some of the best of the dairies of New England and 
New York correspond in a remarkable degree with the 
mode of making Cheddar and Cheshire cheese, both 
celebrated for their richness and popularity in the mar- 
ket. Of the latter there are made, it is said, over 
twelve thousand tons annually ; Cheshire taking the 
lead in cheese-making, and keeping about forty thousand 
cows. 

Cheshiee Cheese is remarkable for its uniformity, 
being, in dairies of the best repute, made by fixed rules, 
and usually by the same persons. If the number of 
cows is sufficient to make a cheese from one meal, that 
amount is used; if not, two meals are united. The 
cows are milked at six o'clock, morning and evening ; 
are kept on rich pastures, and never driven far, great 
care being taken that nothing shall interfere with the 
regularity with which every operation connected with 
this chief source of the wealth and prosperity of the 
Cheshire farmer is conducted. The milk is brought in 
large wooden pails into the milk-house, which it is gen- 
erally contrived shall have a cool north aspect, and 
immediately strained into pans, and placed upon the 
floor of the dairy. Each pan is about six inches in 
depth, and usually made of block-tin. This substance 
is objected to by some because it is liable, like 
every other metal, although, perhaps, in a less degree 
than either zinc or lead, to be acted upon by the lactic 
acid, and so produce compounds of a deleterious char- 
acter. At six o'clock in the morning the cheese-ladder 
is put on the cheese-tub, the whole of the night's milk 
is again passed through the sieve, and the morning's 
milk is then poured upon it, and well agitated to equal- 
ize the temperature ; in cold weather a pan of hot water 
is previously put into the tub, to increase the temper- 
ature of the previous night's meal. 



DETAILS OF MAKING. 257 

The rennet is next applied, care being taken that 
the heat of the whole quantity of the milk is about 
seventy-four degrees ; and, almost simultaneously with 
the rennet, the annatto, — about a quarter of an ounce 
is sufficient for a cheese of sixty-four pounds, — both 
of which, in all well-regulated dairies, are strained 
through a piece of silk or fine cloth. The rennet is 
generally made on the previous evening, by a piece 
of the dried skin about the size of a crown-piece being- 
immersed in hot water, and allowed to stand all night. 
After the rennet and coloring matter have been thor- 
oughly mixed with the milk, it is covered with the lid 
of the cheese-tub, and in cold weather with a cloth in 
addition, to preserve the temperature of the mass until 
the curd has formed. It is then left undisturbed for 
about an hour, and frequently longer, to allow the coag- 
ulation of the milk. After that time a curd-breaker is 
passed up and down it for about five minutes, and 
again it is allowed to settle for another half-hour. The 
whey is then taken out by means of a dish or bowl, the 
curd being gathered to one side of the tub, and gently 
pressed by the hand, to allow the whey to separate from 
it more easily. It is then pressed by a weight of about 
fifty pounds ; afterwards the curd is taken out of the 
tub and put into a basket, the inside of which is cov- 
ered with a coarse square cheese-cloth. The four ends 
of the cloth are then folded over the curd, a tin hoop 
being put around the upper edge of the cheese, and 
within the sides of the vat, upon which a board is placed 
bearing a weight of about one hundred pounds, varying, 
of course, with the size of the cheese. This process 
is repeated two or three times, the curd being slightly 
broken at each operation. It is next taken out of the 
basket for salting or curing, and either broken down 
small by hand or in a curd-mill. A certain quantity of 
22* 17 



258 CHESHIEE CHEESE. 

salt is then carefully and intimately mixed with the 
curd, according to the experience, taste, and custom, 
of the dairymaid. It is then put into the cheese-vat in 
a coarse cloth, pressed lightly at first for an hour ; then 
taken out and turned, and the pressure increased until 
the proper degree of consistence is attained. After- 
wards it is turned every twelve hours for three or four 
days, remaining in the vat until the curd becomes so 
dry as not to moisten the cloth. During this time 
skewers are passed through holes made in the sides 
of the vat into the body of the cheese, the more effect- 
ually to aid the expression of the whey, the pressure 
being still continued. When they are withdrawn, the 
whey flows through these miniature tunnels, which are 
in a few moments obliterated by the superincumbent 
weight. 

It is the practice of some dairymaids in this county 
to take the cheese to a cool salting-house, leaving it 
there for a week or ten days, turning it daily, and rub- 
bing salt on the upper surface. Others immerse the 
cheese in a brine almost sufficiently strong to float it, 
with occasional turning ; others, again, after taking the 
cheese from the press, place it in a furnace at a mod- 
erate heat, and keep it closed therein for a night ; while 
some run a hot iron over the whole, or over the edges. 
The binder — a cloth of three or four inches in breadth 
— is then passed tightly round the cheese, and secured 
by pins, when it is removed to the cheese-room, and 
placed on a kind of grass, which in Cheshire is called 
sniggle, the newest or latest-made cheese being put in 
the warmest situation. Here it remains, being turned 
over three times a week while it is new, and less often 
as it becomes matured, care being taken to keep each 
one of the cheeses separate from all the others. The 
room selected for a store is always that which can be 



STILTON CHEESE. 259 

best protected from the light, and any sudden changes 
of temperature. The best Cheshire cheese is seldom 
ripe for the market under one or two years. 

The Stilton Cheese is by far the richest of the 
English dairies. This originated in a small town of that 
name, in Leicestershire. It possesses " a peculiar deli- 
cacy of flavor, a delicious mellowness, and a great apt- 
ness to acquire a species of artificial decay ; without 
which, to the somewhat vitiated taste of lovers of Stilton 
cheese, as now eaten, it is not considered of prime 
account. To be in good order, according to the present 
standard of taste, it must be decayed, blue, and moist." 
To suit this taste, an artificial mode is adoptee], old and 
decayed cheese being introduced into the new, or port 
wine or ale added by means of tasters, or caulking-pins 
are stuck into them, and left till they rust and produce 
an appearance of decay in the cheese. 

" It is commonly made by putting the night's cream 
to the milk of the following morning with the rennet, 
great care being taken that the milk and the cream are 
thoroughly mixed together, and that they both have 
the proper temperature. The rennet should also be 
very pure and sweet. As soon as the milk is curdled, 
the whole of it is taken out, put into a sieve gradually 
to drain, and moderately pressed. It is then put into 
a case or box, of the form that it is intended to be ; for, 
on account of its richness, it would separate and fall to 
pieces were not this precaution adopted. Afterwards 
it is turned every day on dry boards, cloth-binders being- 
tied around it, which are gradually tightened as occasion 
requires. After it is removed from the box or hoop, the 
cheese must be closely bound with cloths and changed 
daily, until it becomes sufficiently compact to support 
itself. When these cloths are taken away, each cheese 
has to be rubbed over with a brush once every day. It 



260 ACORN FORM. — GLOUCESTER CHEESE. 

the weather is moist or damp, this is clone twice a day 
during two or three months. It is occasionally pow- 
dered with flour, and plunged into hot water. This 
hardens the outer coat and favors the internal ferment- 
ation, and thus produces what is called the ripening 
of the cheese. Sometimes it is made in a net like a 
cabbage-net, which gives it the form of an acorn." 

The maturity of Stilton cheeses is sometimes has 
tened by putting them in a bucket, and covering them 
over with horse-dung. 

Gloucester Cheese is likewise quite celebrated for 
its richness, piquancy, and delicacy of flavor, and justly 
commands a high price in the market. The manage- 
ment of the milk up to the time of curding is similar to 
that of Cheshire ; a cheese, often being made of one 
meal, requires no additional heat to raise it to a proper 
temperature. After the curd is cut into small squares, 
the whey is carefully drained off through a hair strainer. 
The cutting is repeated every thirty minutes till the 
whey is removed, when it is put into vats and covered 
with dry cloths, and placed in the press. After remain- 
ing a sufficient length of time, it is put into a curd-mill 
and cut or ground into small pieces, when it is again 
packed in fine canvas cloth, and put in the cheese-vat. 
Hot water or whey is poured over the cloth, to harden 
the rind and prevent its cracking. " The curd is nest 
turned out of the vat into the cloth, and, the inside of 
the vat being washed with whey, the inverted curd 
with the cloth is returned to the vat. The cloth is then 
folded over, and the vat put into the press for two 
hours, when it is taken out, and dry cloths applied dur- 
ing the course of the day. It is then replaced in the 
press until salted, which operation is generally performed 
about twenty -four hours after it is made. In salting the 
cheese, it is rubbed with finely-powdered salt, and this 



CHEDDAE AND DUNLOP CHEESE. 261 

is thought to make the cheese more smooth and solid 
than when the salting process is performed upon the 
curd. The cheese is after this returned to the vat, 
and put under the press, in which several are placed, 
the newest at the bottom and the oldest on the top. 
The salting is repeated three times, twenty-four hours 
being allowed to intervene between each ; and the 
cheese is finally taken from the press to the cheese-room 
in the course of five days. In the cheese-room it is 
turned over every day for a month, when it is cleaned 
of all scurf, and rubbed over with a woollen cloth 
dipped in a paint made of Indian red or Spanish 
brown and small beer. As soon as the paint is dry, 
the cheese is rubbed once a week with a cloth. The 
quantity of salt employed is about three and a half 
pounds ; and one pound of annatto is sufficient to color 
half a ton of cheese." 

Cheddae Cheese is another variety in high repute 
for its richness, and commands a high price in the mar- 
ket. It is made of new milk only, and contains more 
fat than the egg. It is, indeed, too rich for ordinary 
consumption. The milk is set with rennet while yet 
warm, and allowed to stand still about two hours. The 
whey first taken off is heated and poured back upon the 
curd, and, after turning off the remainder, that is also 
heated and poured back in the same manner, where it 
stands about half an hour. The curd is then put into 
the press, and treated very much as the Cheshire up to 
the time of ripeness. 

The Dunlop Cheese, the most celebrated of Scot- 
land, had its origin in Ayrshire, from which it was sent 
to the Glasgow market, and from which the manufacture 
soon spread to Lanark, Renfrew, and other adjoining- 
counties. It is manufactured, according to Aiton, in the 
following manner : When the cows on a farm are not 



262 MODE OP MAKING DUNLOP CHEESE. 

so numerous as to yield milk sufficient to make a cheese 
every time they are milked, the milk is stored about 
six or eight inches deep in the coolers, and placed in 
the milk-house until as much is collected as will form a 
cheese of a proper size. When the cheese is to be 
made, the cream is skimmed from the milk in the cool- 
ers, and, without being heated, is, with the milk that 
is drawn from the cows at the time, passed through the 
sieve into the curd-vat. The cold milk from which 
the cream has been taken is heated so as to raise the 
temperature of the whole mass to near blood heat; and 
the whole is coagulated by the means of rennet care- 
fully mixed with the milk. The cream is put into the 
curd-vat, that its oily parts may not be melted, and the 
skimmed milk is heated sufficient to raise the whole 
to near animal heat. 

It may be said that the utmost care is always taken 
to keep the milk, in all stages of the operation, free 
not only from every admixture or impurity, but also 
from being hurt by foul air arising from acidity in 
any milky substance, putrid water, the stench of the 
barn, dunghill, or any other substance ; and likewise to 
prevent the milk from becoming sour, which, when it 
happens, greatly injures the cheese. Great care is taken 
to prevent any of the butyraceous or oily matter in the 
cream from being melted in any stage of the process. 
To cool the milk, and to facilitate the separation or 
rising of the cream, a small quantity of clean cold 
water is generally mixed with the milk in each cooler. 
The coagulum is formed in from ten to fifteen minutes, 
and nobody would use rennet twice that required more 
than twenty minutes or half an hour to form a curd. 
Whenever the milk is completely coagulated the curd 
is broken, in order to let the serum or whey be sep- 
arated and taken off. Some break the curd slightly at 



MR. aiton's statement. 263 

first, by making cross-scores with a knife or a thin piece 
of wood, at about one or two inches distant, and inter- 
secting each other at right angles ; and these are 
renewed still more closely after some of the whey has 
been discharged. Others break the whole curd more 
minutely at once with the hand or the skimmer. 

After the curd has been broken, the whey ought to 
be taken off as speedily as it can be done, and with as 
little further breaking or handling the curd as possible. 
It is necessary, however, to turn the curd, cut it with 
a knife, or break it gently with the hand. 

When the curd has consolidated a little, it is cut 
with the cheese-knife, slightly at first, and more mi- 
nutely as it hardens, so as to bring off the whey. When 
the greater part of the whey has been extracted, the 
curd is taken up from the curd-boyn, and, being cut into 
pieces of about two inches in thickness, it is placed in 
a sort of vat or sieve with many holes. A lid is placed 
upon it, and a slight pressure, say from three to four 
stone avoirdupois ; and the curd is turned up and cut 
small every ten or fifteen minutes, and occasionally 
pressed with the hand so long as it continues to dis- 
charge serum. When no more whey can be drawn off 
by these means, the curd is cut as small as possible with 
the knife, the proper quantity of salt minutely mixed 
into it in the curd-boyn, and placed in the chessart 
within a shift of thin canvas, and put under the press. 

All these operations ought to be carried on and com- 
pleted with the least possible delay, and yet without 
precipitation. The sooner the whey is removed after 
the coagulation of the milk, so much the better. But, 
if the curd is soft, from being set too cold, it requires 
more time, and to be more gently dealt with, as other- 
wise much of the curd and of the fat would go off with 
the whey ; and when the curd has been formed too hot, 



264 CHEESE IN THE SCOTCH DAIRIES. 

the same caution is necessary. Precipitation, or hand- 
ling the curd too roughly, would add to its toughness, 
and expel still more of the oily matter ; and, as has been 
already mentioned, hot water or whey should be put on 
the curd when it is soft and cold, and cold water when 
the curd is set too hot. 

Undue delay, however, in any of these operations, 
from the time the milk is taken out of the coolers until 
the curd is under the press in the shape of a cheese, 
is most improper, as the curd in all these stages is, 
when neglected for even a few minutes, very apt to 
become ill-flavored. If it is allowed to remain too 
long in the curd-vat, or in the dripper over it, before 
the whey is completely extracted, the curd becomes 
too cold, and acquires a pungent or acrid taste ; or, it 
softens so much that the cheese is not sufficiently adhe- 
sive, and does not easily part with the serum. Whenever 
the curd is completely set, the whey should be taken off 
without delay; and the dairymaid should never leave 
the curd-boyn until the curd is ready for the dripper or 
cheese-vat. The salt is mixed into the curd. 

After the cheese is put into the press, it remains for 
the first time about an hour, or less than two hours, 
until it is taken out, turned upside down in the cheese- 
vat, and a new cloth put around it every four or six 
hours until the cheese is completed, which is generally 
in the course of a day and a half, two, or at most in 
three days after it was first put under the press. 

Some have shortened the process of pressing by 
placing the cheese — after it has been under the press 
for two hours or so for the first time — into water 
heated to about one hundred or one hundred and ten 
degrees, and allowing the cheese to remain in the water 
about the space of half an hour, and thereafter drying 
it with a cloth, and putting it again under the press. 



THE STOEE-EOOM. 265 

When taken from the press, generally after two or 
three days from the time they were first placed under it, 
they are exposed for a week or so to the warmth and 
heat of the farmer's kitchen, — not to excite sweating, 
but merely to dry them a little before they are placed 
in the store, where a small proportion of heat is 
admitted. While they remain in the kitchen they are 
turned over three or four times every day ; and, when- 
ever they begin to harden a little on the outside, they 
are laid up on the shelves of the store, where they are 
turned over once a day or once in two days for a 
week or so, until they are dry, and twice every week 
afterwards. 

The store-houses for cheese in Scotland are in pro- 
portion to the size of the dairy, — generally a small 
place adjoining the milk-house, or in the end of the 
barn or other buildings, where racks are placed, with 
as many shelves as can hold the cheeses made in the 
season. When no particular place is prepared, the 
racks are placed in the barn, which is generally empty 
during summer ; or some lay the cheeses on the floor 
of a garret over some part of their dwelling-house. 

Wherever the cheeses are stored, they are not 
sweated or put into a warm place, but kept cool, in a 
place in a medium state, between damp and dry, with- 
out the sun being allowed to shine on them, or yet a 
great current of air admitted. Too much air, or the 
rays of the sun, would dry the cheeses too fast, diminish 
their weight, and make them crack ; and heat would 
make them sweat or perspire, which extracts the fat, 
and tends to induce hooving. But when they are kept 
in a temperature nearly similar to that of a barn, the 
doors of which are not much open, and but a moderate 
current of air admitted, the cheeses are kept in a 
proper shape, — neither so dry as to rend the skin, nor so 
23 



266 DUTCH AND PARMESAN CHEESE. 

damp as to render them mouldy on the outside ; and no 
partial fermentation is excited, but the cheese is pre- 
served sound and good. 

Dutch Cheese. — The most celebrated of the Dutch 
cheeses is the Edam, of North Holland, and the G-ouda. 
The manufacture of these and other varieties will be 
described in a subsequent chapter, on Dairy Husbandry 
in Holland. 

The Parmesan is an Italian cheese, made of one meal 
of milk, allowed to stand sixteen hours, to which is 
added another which has stood eight hours. The cream 
being taken from both, the skim-milk is heated an hour 
over a slow fire, and constantly stirred till it reaches 
about eighty-two degrees, when the rennet is put in and 
an hour allowed to form the curd. The curd is 
thoroughly broken or cut, after which a part of the 
whey is removed, and the curd is then heated nearly 
up to the boiling point, when a little saffron is added to 
color it. It then stands over the fire about half an 
hour, when it is taken off, and nearly all the rest of 
the whey removed, cold water being added, till the 
curd is cool enough to handle. It is then surrounded 
with a cloth, and, after being partially dried, is put 
into a hoop and remains there two days. It is then 
sprinkled with salt for thirty clays in summer, or about 
forty in winter. One cheese is then laid above another 
to allow them to take the salt ; after which they are 
scraped and cleansed every day, and rubbed with lin- 
seed-oil to preserve them from the attack of insects, and 
they are ready for sale at the age of six months. 

American Cheese, as it is called in the English 
markets, whither large quantities are shipped for sale, 
is made of almost every conceivable variety and quality, 
from the richest Cheddar or Cheshire to the poorest 
skim-milk cheese. The statements of some of the best 



AMERICAN CHEESE. 267 

dairymen have already been given. As a further illus- 
tration of the mode pursued in other sections of the 
country, the statement of C. G. Taylor, a successful 
competitor for the premiums offered by the Illinois State 
Agricultural Society, may be given as follows : 

" As the milk is drawn from the cows, it is immedi- 
ately strained into a vat. This vat is a new patent, and 
is better than any I have ever seen for cheese-making. 
It is double, a space being left between the two parts. 
Into the upper vat the milk is strained, and cold water 
is applied between it and the lower one. Thus the ani- 
mal heat is soon expelled, and the milk is prevented 
from souring before morning. The morning milk is 
added. Under the lower vat a copper boiler is 
arranged. The water in the boiler is in perfect con- 
nection with that remaining all around the upper or 
milk vat, connected with three copper pipes. With a 
little wood the water is wanned. Thus the tempera- 
ture of the milk is soon brought to the desired point to 
receive the rennet, which is about ninety to ninety- 
five degrees. Sufficient rennet is applied to the milk 
to cause it to curdle or coagulate in from thirty to 
forty minutes. Then the curd is carefully cut, each 
way, into slices of about one inch square. Soon the 
temperature is slowly increased. In about twenty 
minutes the curd is carefully broken up with the hand, 
— increasing the heat, and stirring often. When the 
curd is sufficiently hard, so as to "squeal" when you bite 
it, it is scalded. By this time the temperature is up to 
about one hundred and thirty or one hundred and 
forty. 

" There are hinges placed in the legs of one end of 
the vat, which is easily tipped, and through the curd- 
strainer and whey-gate the whey is soon run off. The 
curd is then dipped into a sink, over which is placed a 



268 COMPOSITION OF CHEESE. 

coarse strainer, and allowed to drain quite dry. It is 
then broken up fine, and one teacup of ground solar salt 
added to curd to make twenty pounds of cheese, and well 
worked in. After the curd is quite cool, it is placed 
in the hoop, and a light pressure is applied. In a few 
minutes more power is needed. After remaining in press 
about six hours, it is taken out of the hoop, wholly 
covered with strong muslin, finely sewed on, and then 
reversed and replaced in the hoop and press. It is 
allowed to remain until the next day, when it has to 
give place for another. 

" After pressing thus twenty-four hours, the cheese is 
placed upon the shelf, and allowed to stand until the 
cloth is dry. Then a preparation, made from annatto 
and butter-oil, is applied sufficiently to fill all the 
interstices of the cloth. It must be turned and thor- 
oughly rubbed three times a week, until ripe for use. 

" I use the self-acting press. I know of none in use 
that is better, — the weight of the cheese being the 
power." 

The statements of skilful and practical dairymen, in 
different parts of the country, are sufficient to show 
that good cheese ( can be produced ; but it is believed 
that a more general attention to all the details of the 
dairy would add many thousand dollars a year to the 
wealth of the people, and enable us to compete suc- 
cessfully with the best dairy countries in the world. 

The composition of cheese will, of course, differ 
widely in nutritive value, according to the mode of 
manufacture, age, etc. A specimen of good cheese was 
found to contain about 31.02 per cent, of flesh-forming 
substances, 25.30 per cent, of heat-producing sub- 
stances, 4.90 per cent, of mineral matter, and 38.78 per 
cent, of water. 

The analyses of several varieties will serve as a com- 



CHEESE AS FOOD. 



269 



parison of cheese with other kinds of food. The Ched- 
dar was a rich cheese two years old, the double Glou- 
cester one year old, the Dunlop one year old, the skirn- 
roilk one year. 





Cheddar. 


Dbl. Glo'ster. 


Dunlop. 

38.46 

25.87 

31.86 

8.81 


Skim-inilk. 


Water, .... 
Caseine, .... 
Fat, 


30.04 

28.98 
30.40 

4.58 


35.81 

37.96 

21.97 

4.25 


43.82 
45.04 

5.98 
5.18 



Professor Johnston gives a table of comparison of 
Cheddar and skim-milk cheese in a dried state, and milk, 
beef, and eggs, also in a dried state, as follows : 





Milk. 


Cheddar 
cheese, dried. 


Skim-milk 
cheese, dried. 


Beef. 


Eggs. 


Caseine (curd), . 
Fat (butter) , . . 
Sugar, .... 
Mineral matter, . 


35 

24 

37 

4 


45 

48 

7 


80 
11 

9 


89 

7 
4 


55 

40 

5 




100 


100 


100 


100 


100 



A full-milk cheese differs but little from pure milk, 
except in the absence of sugar, which, as already seen, 
is held in solution, and goes off in the whey. The dif- 
ference becomes greater in proportion as the cream is 
removed from the milk before curding, and the nutritive 
qualities thereby diminished. 

Cheese is used both as a regular article of food, for 
which the ordinary kinds of full-milk cheeses are 
admirably fitted, and as a condiment or digester, in con- 
nection with other articles of food; and for this purpose 
the stronger varieties, such as are partially decayed 
and mouldy, are best. " When the curd of milk is 
exposed to the air in a moist state, for a few days, at a 
moderate temperature, it begins gradually to decay, to 
emit a disagreeable odor, and to ferment. When in 
23* 



270 DIGESTIVE QUALITY OF CHEESE. 

this state, it possesses the property, in certain circum- 
stances, of inducing a species of chemical change and 
fermentation in other moist substances with which it is 
mixed, or is brought into contact. It acts after the 
same manner as sour leaven does when mixed with 
sweet dough. Now, old and partially decayed cheese 
acts in a similar way when introduced into the stomach. 
It causes chemical changes gradually to commence 
among the particles of the food which has previously 
been eaten, and thus facilitates the dissolution which 
necessarily precedes digestion. It is only some kinds 
of cheese, however, which will effect this purpose. 
Those are generally considered the best in which some 
kind of cheese-mould has established itself. Hence, 
the mere eating of a morsel of cheese after dinner does 
not necessarily promote digestion. If too new, or of 
improper quality, it will only add to the quantity of 
food with which the stomach is probably already over- 
loaded, and will have to await its turn for digestion by 
the ordinary processes." This mouldiness and tendency 
to decay, with its flavor and digestive quality, are 
often communicated to new cheese by inoculation, or 
insertion of a small portion of the old into the interior 
of the new by means of the cheese-taster. 

In studying attentively the practice of the most suc- 
cessful cheese-makers, I think it will be observed that 
they are particularly careful about the preparation of 
the rennet, and equally so about the details of pressing. 
In my opinion, the point in which many American 
cheese-makers fail of success is in hurrying the press- 
ing. I think it will be found that the best cheese is 
pressed two days, at least, and in many cases still 
longer. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE DISEASES OP DAIRY STOCK. 

Dairy stock, properly feci and managed, is liable to 
few diseases in this country, notwithstanding the 
sudden changes to which our climate is subject. If 
pure air, pure water, a dry barn or pasture, and a fre- 
quent but gradual change of diet, when kept in the stall, 
are provided for milch cows, nature will generally 
remedy any derangements of the system which may 
occur, far better than art. Common sense is especially 
requisite in the treatment of stock, and that will very 
rarely dictate a resort to bleeding, boring the horns, 
cutting off the tail, and a thousand other equally absurd 
practices, too common even within the memory of men 
still living. 

The diseases most to be dreaded are garget, puer- 
peral or milk fever, and idiopathic or common fever, 
commonly called " horn ail," and often " tail ail." 

Garget is an inflammation of the internal substance 
of the udder. One or more of the teats, or whole sec- 
tions of the udder, become enlarged and thickened, hot, 
tender, and painful. The milk coagulates in the bag, 
and causes inflammation where it is deposited, which is 
accompanied by fever. It most commonly occurs in 
young cows after calving, especially when in too high 
condition. The secretion of milk is very much lessened, 
and, in very bad cases, stopped altogether. Sometimes 



272 GAEGET. — SYMPTOMS. — TREATMENT. 

the milk is thick, and mixed with blood. Often, also, 
in severe cases, the hind extremities, as the hip-joint, 
hock, or fetlock, are swollen and inflamed to such an 
extent that the animal cannot rise. The simplest remedy, 
in mild cases, is to put the calf to its mother several 
times a day. This will remove the flow of milk, and 
often dispel the congestion. 

Sometimes the udder is so much swollen that the cow 
will not permit the calf to suck. If the fever increases, 
the appetite declines, and rumination ceases. In this 
stage of the complaint, the advice of a scientific veter- 
inary practitioner is required. A dose of purging 
medicine and frequent washing of the udder, in mild 
cases, are usually successful. The physic should con- 
sist of Epsom salts one pound, ginger half an ounce, 
nitrate of potassa half an ounce ; dissolved in a quart of 
boiling water ; then add a gill of molasses, and give to 
the cow lukewarm. Diet moderate ; that is, on bran, or 
if in summer green food. There are various medicines 
for the different forms and stages of garget, which, if 
the above medicine fails, can be properly prescribed 
only by a skilful veterinary practitioner. 

It is important that the udder should be frequently 
examined, as matter may be forming, which should be 
immediately released. Various causes are assigned for 
this disease, such as exposure to cold and wet, or the 
want of proper care or attention in parturition. 

An able writer, Mr. Youatt, says that hasty drying 
up a cow often gives rise to inflammation and indura- 
tions of the udder, difficult of removal. Sometimes a 
cow lies down upon and bruises the udder, and this is 
another cause. But a very frequent source, and one 
for which there can be no excuse, is the failure to milk 
a cow clean. The calf should be allowed to suck often, 
and the cow should be milked at least twice a day 



PREVENTION CHEAPER THAN CURE. 273 

as clean as possible, while suffering from this com- 
plaint. 

If the udder is hot and feverish, a wash may be 
used, consisting of eight ounces of vinegar and two 
ounces of camphoretted spirit ; the whole well and 
thoroughly mixed, and applied, just after milking, to be 
washed off in warm water before milking again. 

In very bad cases, iodine has often been found most 
effectual. An iodine ointment may be prepared by 
taking one drachm of hyclriodate of potash and an 
ounce of lard, and mixing them well together. A small 
portion of the mixture, from the size of a pigeon's egg, 
in limited inflammations, to twice that amount, is to be 
well rubbed into the swollen part, morning and night. 

When milk forms in the bag before parturition, so as 
to cause a swelling of the udder, it should be milked 
away ; and a neglect of this precaution often leads to 
violent attacks of garget. 

Prevention is always better than cure. The reason 
most commonly given for letting the cow run dry for 
a month or two before calving is that after a long period 
of milking her system requires rest, and that she will 
give more milk and do better the coming season than 
if milked up to the time of calving. 

This is all true, and a reason sufficient in itself for 
drying off the cow some weeks before parturition; but 
there is another important reason for the practice, which 
is that the mixture of the old milk with the new secre- 
tion is liable to end in an obstinate case of garget. 

To prevent any ill effects from calving, the cow 
should not be suffered to get too fat, which high feed- 
ing after drying off might induce. 

The period of gestation is about two hundred and 
eighty-four or two hundred and eighty-five days. But 
cows sometimes overrun their time, and have been 

18 



274 GESTATION. — SLINKING. — CALVING. 

known to go three hundred and thirteen days, and even 
more ; while they now and then fall short of it ; and have 
been known to calve in two hundred and twenty clays. 
If they go much over the average time, the calf will 
generally be a male. But cows are sometimes liable to 
slink their calves; and this usually takes place about 
the middle of their pregnancy. To avoid the evil con- 
sequences,, so far as possible, they should be watched ; 
and, if a cow is found to be uneasy and feverish, or 
wandering about away from the rest of the herd, and 
apparently longing for something she cannot get, she 
ought to be taken away from the others. 

If a cow slinks her calf while in the pasture with 
others, they will be liable to be affected in the same way. 

In many cases, physicking will quiet the cow's excite- 
ment in the condition above described, and prove of es- 
sential benefit. A dose of one pound of Epsom or Glau- 
ber's salts, and one ounce of ginger, mixed in a pint of 
thick gruel, should be given first, to be immediately 
followed by the salts, in a little thinner gruel. 

When a cow once slinks her calf, there is great risk in 
breeding from her. She is liable to do the same again. 
But when the slinking is caused by sudden fright or 
over-exertion, or any offensive matter, such as blood or 
the dead carcasses of animals, this result is not so much 
to be feared. 

But the cow, when about to calve, ought not to be 
disturbed by too constant watching. The natural pre- 
sentation of the fcetus is with the head lying upon the 
fore legs. If in this position, nature will generally do 
all. But, if the presentation is unnatural, and the labor 
has been long and ineffectual, some assistance is 
required. The hand, well greased, may be introduced, 
and the position of the calf changed ; and, when in a 
proper position, a cord should be tied round the fore 



FALSE PRESENTATIONS — MILK FEVER. 275 

legs, just above the hoofs ; but no effort should be 
made to draw out the calf till the natural throes are re- 
peated. If the nostril of the calf has protruded, and the 
position is then found to be unnatural, the head cannot 
be thrust back without destroying the life of the calf. 

The false position most usually presented is that of 
the head first, with the legs doubled under the belly. A 
cord is then fixed around the lower jaw, when it is 
pushed back, to give an opportunity to adjust the fore 
legs, if possible. The object must now be to save the 
life of the cow. 

But the cases of false presentation, though compara- 
tively rare, are so varied that no directions could be 
given which would be applicable in all cases. 

After calving the cow will require but little care, if she 
is in the barn, and protected from changes of weather. 
A warm bran mash is usually given, and the state of 
the udder examined. 

Puerperal or Milk Fever. — Calving is often at- 
tended with feverish excitement. The change of power- 
ful action from the womb to the udder causes much 
constitutional disturbance and local inflammation. A cow 
is subject to nervousness in such circumstances, which 
sometimes extends to the whole system, and causes 
puerperal fever. This complaint is called dropping 
after calving, because it succeeds that process. The 
prominent symptom is a loss of power over the motion 
of the hind extremities, and inability to stand ; some- 
times loss of sensibility in these parts, so that a deep 
puncture with a pin, or other sharp instrument, is unfelt. 

This disease is much to be dreaded by the farmer, on 
account of the high state of excitement and the local 
inflammation. Either from neglect or ignorance, the mal- 
ady is not discovered until the manageable symptoms 
have passed, and extreme debility has appeared. The 



276 MILK FEVER. — SYMPTOMS. 

animal is often first seen lying down, unable to rise ; 
prostration of strength and violent fever are brought on 
by inflammation of the womb. But soon a general 
inflammatory action succeeds, rapid and violent, with 
complete prostration of all the vital forces, bidding 
defiance to the best-selected remedies. 

Cows in very high condition, and cattle removed from 
low keeping to high feeding, are the most liable to 
puerperal fever. It occurs most frequently during the 
hot weather of summer, and then it is most dangerous. 
When it occurs in winter, cows sometimes recover. In 
hot weather they usually die. 

Milk fever may be induced by the hot drinks often 
given after calving. A young cow at her first calving 
is rarely attacked with it. Great milkers are most com- 
monly subject to it; but all cows have generally more 
or less fever at calving. A little addition to it, by im- 
proper treatment or neglect, will prevent the secretion 
of milk ; and thus the milk, being thrown back into the 
system, will increase the inflammation. 

This disease sometimes shows itself in the short 
space of two or three hours after calving, but often not 
under two or three days. If four or five days have 
passed, the cow may generally be considered safe. . The 
earliest symptoms of this disease are as follows : 

The animal is restless, frequently shifting her posi- 
tion ; occasionally pawing and heaving at the flanks. 
Muzzle hot and dry, the mouth open, and tongue 
out at one side ; countenance wild ; eyes staring. She 
moans often, and soon becomes very irritable. Delirium 
follows; she grates her teeth, foams at the mouth, 
tosses her head about, and frequently injures herself. 
From the first, the udder is hot, enlarged, and tender ; 
and if this swelling is attended by a suspension of milk, 
the cause is clear. As the case is inflammatory, its 



BLEEDING RARELY NECESSARY. 277 

treatment must be in accordance ; and it is usually 
subdued without much difficulty. Mr. Youatt says, 
" The animal should be bled, and the quantity regulated 
by the impression made upon the circulation, — from 
six to ten quarts often before the desired effect is pro- 
duced." He wrote at a time when bleeding was 
adopted as the universal cure, and before the general 
reasoning and treatment of diseases of the human sys- 
tem was applied to similar diseases of animals. The 
cases are very rare, indeed, where the physician of the 
present day finds it necessary to bleed in diseases of 
the human subject ; and they are equally rare, I appre- 
hend, where it is really necessary or judicious to bleed 
for the diseases of animals. A more humane and 
equally effectual course will be the following : 

A pound to one and a half pounds of Epsom or Glau- 
ber's salts, according to the size and condition of the 
animal, should be given, dissolved in a quart, of boiling 
water ; and, when dissolved, add pulv. red pepper a 
quarter of an ounce, caraway do. do., ginger do. do. ; 
mix, and add a gill of molasses, and give lukewarm. 
If this medicine does not act on the bowels, the quantity 
of ginger, capsicum, and caraway, must be doubled. 
The insensible stomach must be roused. When purg- 
ing in an early stage is begun, the fever will more 
readily subside. After the operation of the medicine, 
sedatives may be given, if necessary. 

The digestive function first fails, when the secondary 
or low state of fever comes on. The food undis- 
charged ferments ; the stomach and intestines are 
inflated with gas, and swell rapidly. The nervous 
system is also attacked, and the poor beast staggers. 
The hind extremities show the weakness ; the cow 
falls, and cannot rise ; her head is turned on one side, 
where it rests ; her limbs are palsied. The treatment 
24 



278 THE PULSE. — PKESCBIPTION. 

in this stage must depend on the existence and degree 
of fever. The pulse will be the only true guide. If it 
is weak, wavering, and irregular, we must avoid deplet- 
ing, purgative agents. The blood flows through the 
arteries, impelled by the action of the heart, and its 
pulsations can be very distinctly felt by pressing the 
finger upon almost any of these arteries that is not too 
thickly covered by fat or the cellular tissues of the 
skin, especially where it can be pressed upon some 
hard or bony substance beneath it. The most conve- 
nient place is directly at the back part of the lower jaw, 
where a large artery passes over the edge of the jaw- 
bone to ramify on the face. The natural pulse of a full- 
grown ox will vary from about forty-eight to fifty-five 
beats a minute ; that of a cow is rather quicker, 
especially near the time of calving ; and that of a calf 
is quicker than that of a cow. But a very much 
quicker rate than that indicated will show a feverish 
state, or inflammation ; and a much slower pulsation 
indicates debility of some kind. 

Next in importance, as we have already stated, is 
the physic. The bowels must be opened, or the ani- 
mal will fall a victim to the disease. All medicines 
should be of an active character, and in sufficient 
quantity ; and stimulants should always be added to 
the purgative medicines, to insure their operation. 
Ginger, gentian, caraway, or red pepper in powder, may 
be given with each dose of physic. Some give a power- 
ful purgative, by means of Epsom salts one pound, flour 
of sulphur four ounces, powdered ginger a quarter of 
an ounce, all dissolved in a quart of cold water, and 
one half given twice a day till the bowels are opened. 
The digestive organs are deranged in most forms 
of milk fever, and the third stomach is loaded with 
hard, indigestible food. When the medicine has operated, 



PEOPER NURSING. — SIMPLE FEVER. 279 

and the fever is subdued, little is required but good 
nursing to restore the patient. 

No powerful medicines should be used without dis- 
cretion ; for in the milder forms of the disease, as the 
simple palsy of the hind extremities, the treatment, 
though of a similar character, should be less powerful, 
and every effort should be made for the comfort of the 
cow, by providing a thick bed of straw, and raising the 
fore quarters to assist the efforts of nature, while all 
filth should be promptly and carefully removed. She 
may be covered with a warm cloth, and warm gruel 
should be frequently offered to her, and light mashes. 
An attempt should be made several times a day to 
bring milk from the teats. The return of milk is an 
indication of speedy recovery. 

Milch cows in too high condition appear to have a 
constitutional tendency to this complaint, and one 
attack of it predisposes them to another. 

Simple Fever. — This may be considered as increased 
arterial action, with or without any local affection ; or 
it may be the consequence of the sympathy of the sys- 
tem with the morbid condition of some particular part. 
The first is pure or idiopathic fever ; the other, symptom- 
atic fever. Pure fever is of frequent occurrence in cattle. 
Symptoms as follows : muzzle dry ; rumination slow 
or entirely suspended ; respiration slightly accelerated ; 
the horn at the root hot, and its other extremity fre- 
quently cold ; pulse quick ; bowels constipated ; coat 
staring, and the cow is usually seen separated from the 
rest of the herd. In slight attacks, a cathartic of salts, 
sulphur, and ginger, is sufficient. But, if the common 
fever is neglected, or improperly treated, it may assume, 
after a time, a local determination, as pleurisy, or 
inflammation of the lungs or bowels. In such cases the 
above remedy would be insufficient, and a veterinary 



280 SYMPTOMATIC FEVER. 

surgeon, to manage the case, would be necessary. 
Symptomatic fever is more dangerous, and is commonly 
the result of injury, the neighboring parts sympathizing 
with the injured part. Cattle become unwell, are stinted 
in their feed, have a dose of physic, and in a few days 
are well ; still, a fever may terminate in some local 
affection. But in both cases pure fever is the primary 
disease. 

A more dangerous form of fever is that known as 
symptomatic. As we have said, cattle are not only 
subject to fever of common intensity, but to symp- 
tomatic fever, and thousands die annually from its 
effects. But the young and the most thriving are its 
victims. There are few premonitory symptoms of symp- 
tomatic fever. It often appears without any previous 
indications of illness. The animal stands with her neck 
extended, her eyes protruding and red, muzzle dry, 
nostrils expanded, breath hot, base of the horn hot, 
mouth open, pulse full, breathing quick. She is often 
moaning ; rumination and appetite are suspended ; she 
soon becomes more uneasy; changes her position often. 
Unless these symptoms are speedily removed, she dies 
in a few hours. The name of the ailment, inflam- 
matory or symptomatic fever, shows the treatment 
necessary, which must commence with purging. Salts 
here, as in most inflammatory diseases, are the most 
reliable. From a pound to a pound and a half, with 
ginger and sulphur, is a dose, dissolved in warm water 
or thin gruel. If this does not operate in twelve hours, 
give half the dose, and repeat once in twelve hours, 
until the bowels are freed. After the operation of the 
medicine the animal is relieved. Then sedative medi- 
cines may be given. Sal ammoniac one drachm, pow- 
dered nitre two drachms, should be administered in thin 
gruel, two or three times a day, if required. 



ASSISTING NATURE. — PURGATIVES. 281 

Typhus fever, common in some countries, is little 
known here among cattle. 

Typhoid Fever sometimes follows intense inflamma- 
tory action, and is considered the second stage of it. 
This form of fever is usually attended with diarrhoea. 
It is a debilitating complaint, and is sometimes followed 
by diseases known as black tongue, black leg, or quarter 
evil. The cause of typhoid fever is involved in obscur- 
ity. It may be proper to say that copious drinks of 
oat-meal gruel, with tincture of red pepper, a diet of 
bran, warmth to the body, and pure air, are great 
essentials in the treatment of this disease. 

The barbarous practices of boring the horns, cutting 
the tail, and others equally absurd, should at once and 
forever be discarded by every farmer and dairyman. 
Alternate heat or coldness of the horn is only a symptom 
of this and other fevers, and has nothing to do with 
their cause. The horns are not diseased any further 
than a determination of blood to the head causes a 
sympathetic heat, while an unnatural distribution of 
blood, from exposure or other cause, may make them 
cold. 

In all cases of this kind, if anything is done, it should 
be an effort to assist nature to regulate the animal sys- 
tem, by rousing the digestive organs to their natural 
action, by a light food, or, if necessary, a mild purga- 
tive medicine, followed by light stimulants. 

The principal purgative medicines in use for neat 
cattle are Epsom salts, linseed-oil, and sulphur. A 
pound of salts will ordinarily be sufficient to purge a 
full-grown cow. 

A slight purgative drink is often very useful for 

cows soon after calving, particularly if feverish, and in 

cases of over-feeding, when the animal will often appear 

dull and feverish ; but when the surfeiting is attended 

24* 



282 THE HOOVES. 

by loss of appetite, it can generally be cured by with- 
holding food at first, and then feeding but slightly till 
the system is renovated by dieting. 

Purgative drinks will often cure cases of red water, 
if taken in season. 

A purgative is often necessary for cows after being- 
turned into a fresh and luxuriant pasture, when they 
are apt to become bound from over-feeding ; but con- 
stipation does not so often follow a change from dry to 
green food in spring, as from a poor pasture in summer 
to one where they obtain much better feed. 

The Hoove or Hoven is brought on by a derange- 
ment of the digestive organs, occasioned by over-feed- 
ing on green and luxuriant clover, or other luxuriant 
food. It is simply the distension of the first stom- 
ach by carbonic acid gas. In later stages, . after fer- 
mentation of the contents of the stomach has com- 
menced, hydrogen gas is also found. The green food, 
being gathered very greedily after the animal has been 
kept on dry and perhaps unpalatable ha} 7- , is not sent 
forward so rapidly as it is received, and remains to 
overload and clog the stomach, till this organ ceases or 
loses the power to act upon it. Here it becomes moist 
and heated, begins to ferment, and produces a gas 
which distends the paunch of the animal, which often 
swells up enormously. The cow is in great pain, breath- 
ing with difficulty, as if nearly suffocating. Then the body 
grows cold, and, unless relief is at hand, the cow dies. 

Prevention is both cheaper and safer than cure ; but 
if by neglect, or want of proper precaution, the animal 
is found in this suffering condition, relief must be 
afforded as soon as possible, or the result will be fatal. 

A hollow flexible tube, introduced into the gullet, 
will sometimes afford a temporary relief till other means 
can be. had, by allowing a part of the gas to escape ; 



CHOKING. — REMOVAL. 283 

but the cause is not removed either by this means or 
by puncturing the paunch, which is often dangerous. 

In the early stage of the disease the gas may be neu- 
tralized by ammonia, which is usually near at hand. 
Two ounces of liquid ammonia, in a quart of distilled 
or rain water, given every quarter of an hour, will 
prove beneficial. A little tincture of ginger, essence 
of anise-seed, or some other cordial, may be added, with- 
out lessening the effect of the ammonia, 

If the case has assumed an alarming character, the 
flexible tube, or probang, may be introduced, and after- 
wards take three drachms either of the chloride of 
lime or the chloride of soda, dissolve in a pint of 
water, and pour it down the throat. Lime-water, pot- 
ash, and sulphuric ether, are often used with effect. 

In desperate cases it may be found necessary to 
make an incision through the paunch ; but the chloride 
of lime will, in most cases, give relief at once, by 
neutralizing the gas. 

Chokixg is often produced by feeding on roots, par- 
ticularly round and uncut roots, like the potato. The 
animal slavers at the mouth, tries to raise the obstruction 
from the throat, often groans, and appears to be in 
great pain. Then the belly begins to swell, from the 
amount of gases in the paunch. 

The obstruction, if not too large, can sometimes be 
thrust forward by introducing a flexible rod, or tube, 
into the throat. This method, if adopted, should be 
attended with great care and patience, or the tender 
parts will be injured. If the obstruction is low down, 
and a tube is to be inserted, a pint of olive or linseed 
oil first turned down will so lubricate the parts as to 
aid the operation, and the power applied must be stead}-. 
If the gullet is torn by the carelessness of the operator, 
or the roughness of the instrument, a rupture gcnei ally 



284 FOUL IN THE FOOT. — CUEE. 

results in serious consequences. A hollow tube is 
best, and if the object is passed on into the paunch, the 
tube should remain a short time, to permit the gas to 
escape. In case the animal is very badly swelled, the 
dose of chloride of lime, or ammonia, should be given, 
as for the hoove, after the obstruction is removed. 

Care should be taken, after the obstruction is 
removed, to allow no solid food for some days. 

Foul in the Foot. — Cows and other stock, when 
fed in low, wet pastures, will often suffer from ulcers 
or sores, generally appearing first between the claws. 
This is commonly called foul in the foot, and is analo- 
gous to foot-rot in sheep. It is often very painful, 
causing severe lameness and loss of flesh, and dis- 
charges a putrid matter, or pus. Sometimes it first 
appears in the form of a swelling near the top of the 
hoof, which breaks and discharges foul matter. 

The rough and common practice among farmers is to 
fasten the foot in the same manner as the foot of an ox 
is fastened in shoeing, and draw a rough rope back and 
forth over the ulcerated parts, so as to produce a 
clean, fresh wound, and then dress it with tar or other 
similar substance. 

This is often an unnecessarily cruel operation. «The 
loose matter may easily be removed by a knife, and then 
carefully wiped off with with a moist sponge. The ani- 
mal should then be removed at once to a warm, dry 
pasture, or kept in the barn. 

If the case has been neglected till the pasterns 
become swollen and tender, the sore may be thoroughly 
cleansed out, and dressed with an ointment of sul- 
phate of iron one ounce, molasses four ounces, sim- 
mered over a slow fire till well mixed. Apply on a 
piece of cotton batting, and secure upon the parts. If 
any morbid growth or fungus appear, use equal parts 



RED WATER. — TREATMENT. 285 

of powdered blood-root and alum sprinkled on the sore, 
and this will usually effect a cure. 

Some also give a dose of flour of sulphur half an 
ounce, powdered sassafras-bark one ounce, and bur- 
dock two ounces, the whole steeped in a quart of boil- 
ing water, and strained when cool ; and, if the matter 
still continues to flow from the sore, wash it morning 
and night with chloride of soda one ounce, or a table- 
spoonful of common salt dissolved in a pint of water. 

Foul in the foot causes very serious trouble, if not 
taken in season. The health of cows is injured to a 
great extent. I have seen, during the present season, 
many instances of foul in the foot in dairy stock arising 
from the wetness of the pastures. No lameness in 
cattle should be neglected. 

Red Water is so called from the high color of the 
urine. It is rather a symptom of some derangement of 
the digestive organs than a disease of itself, and the 
cause is most frequently to be found in the quality 
of the food. It is peculiar to certain localities, and is 
of very rare occurrence in New England. 

In the early stage of the difficulty the bowels are 
loose, but soon constipation ensues, and the appetite is 
affected, the milk decreases, and the urine becomes 
either very red or sometimes black. 

The case demands treatment, for it is apt to prey 
upon the health of the cow. Purgatives are usually 
employed with most success. Take a pound of Epsom 
salts, half an ounce of ginger, and half an ounce of car- 
bonate of ammonia. Pour a quart of boiling water on 
the salts and ginger, stir thoroughly, and, when cold, 
acid the ammonia. If this fails to act on the bowels, 
repeat a quarter part of it every six or eight hours till 
it succeeds. Then a nutritious diet should be used till 
the appetite is fully restored. 



286 HOOSE. INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS. 

If a cow is once affected in this way, the difficulty 
will be liable to return, and she had better be dis- 
posed of. 

Hoose is a cold or cough to which stock are subject 
when exposed to wet weather and damp pastures. 

The cold may not be bad at first, or may be so slight 
as not to attract attention ; but it often leads to worse 
complaints, and ought, when observed, to be attended 
to at once, by keeping the animal in a dry and warm 
barn a few days, and feeding with mashes, and, if it 
continues, take an ounce of sweet spirits of nitre in a 
pint of ginger tea ; mix, and give in a quart of thick 
gruel. 

No prudent farmer will neglect to observe approach- 
ing symptoms of disease in his stock. The cheapest 
way to keep animals healthy is to treat them properly 
in time, and before disease is seated upon them. Hoose 
often ends in consumption and death. 

Inflammation of the Glands often occurs in hoose, 
catarrh, etc., but they resume their natural state when 
these complaints are removed. The animal cannot swal- 
low without pain sometimes, and soft food should be 
given. Remove the cause, and the inflammation ceases. 
Some make a relaxing poultice of marsh-mallows, or 
similar substances ; and rub the throat with a mixture 
of olive or goose oil one gill, spirit of camphor one 
ounce, oil of cedar one ounce, and half a gill of vinegar. 

Inflammation of the Lungs. — Common catarrh or 
hoose sometimes leads to inflammation of the lungs, 
which is indicated by dulness .and sore cough. The 
ears, the roots of the horns, and legs, are sometimes 
cold. The breath is hot, as well as the mouth ; and the 
animal rarely lies down, and is reluctant to move, 
or change its position. Warm water and mashes, or 
gruel, may be given, and the animal kept in a dry 



DIARRHOEA. — TREATMENT. 287 

place. The cause of the complaint should be removed, 
and the trouble will generally soon cease. The treat- 
ment is much the same as for fever; but where the 
surface of the body is cold 7 as is generally the case, 
give sweet spirits of nitre two ounces, liquor acetate 
of ammonia four ounces, in a pint of water, two or 
three times a day. 

Diarrhcea is brought on by too sudden change of 
food, especially from dry to green and succulent food ; 
sometimes by poisonous plants or bad water. If slight, 
the farmer may not be anxious to check it. It may show 
simply an effort of nature to throw off some injurious 
substances from the body, and so it may exist when the 
animal is quite healthy. But, if it continues too long, 
and is likely to debilitate the system, a mild purgative 
may be given to assist rather than check the operation 
of nature. Half a pound of Epsom salts, with a little 
ginger and gentian, will do for a medium-sized animal 
in this case ; but a purgative may be followed in a day 
or two by an astringent medicine. Take prepared chalk 
two ounces, powdered oak-bark one ounce, powdered 
catechu two drachms, powdered opium one drachm, and 
four drachms powdered ginger. Mix these together, 
and give in a quart of warm gruel. Sometimes a few 
ounces of pulverized charcoal will arrest the diarrhoea. 
Common diarrhoea may be distinguished from dysentery 
by a too abundant discharge of clung in too fluid a form, 
or in a full, almost liquid stream, sometimes very offen- 
sive to the smell, and now and then bloody. In dysen- 
tery, the dung is often mixed with mucus and blood, and 
is not unfrequently attended by a hard straining. The 
quantity of dung is less than in diarrhoea, but more 
offensive. 

Diarrhoea may occur at any season of the year, and 
sometimes leads to dysentery, which more frequently 
appears in the spring and fall. 



288 DYSENTERY. — MANGE. — SYMPTOMS. 

Dysentery, or scouring rot, is a dangerous and trouble- 
some malady when it becomes seated.- 

The cow suffers from painful efforts to pass the dung, 
which is thin, slimy, olive-colored, and offensive, and 
after it falls rises up in little bubbles, with a slimy sub- 
stance upon it. She is restless, lying down and soon 
rising again, and appears to be in great °distress. The 
hair seems, to stand out stiff from the body, and this 
stage of the malady indicates an obstinate and fatal 
disease. 

It is often brought on by a simple cold at the time of 
calving, exposure to sudden changes, and by poor keep- 
ing, which exhausts the system, especially in winter. A 
dry, warm barn, and careful nursing, will do much ; and 
dry, sweet food, as hay, oat-meal, boiled potatoes, gruel, 
&c. Some linseed-meal is also very good for cows with 
this complaint. A little gum-arabic or starch may be 
mixed with the medicine. 

The treatment is much the same as for diarrhoea. 

The Mange is commonly brought on by half starving 
in winter, and by keeping the cow in a filthy, ill-ven- 
tilated place. It is contagious, and if one cow of a 
herd has it, the rest will be apt to get it also. Blaine 
says, " Mange has three origins, — filth, debility, and 
contagion." It is a disgrace to the farmer to suffer 
it to enter his herd from either of these causes, since 
it shows a culpable neglect of his stock. I am sorry 
to say it is too common in this country, especially 
in filthy barns. 

The cow afflicted with the mange is hide-bound ; the 
hair is dry and stiff, and comes off. She is constantly 
rubbing, and a kind of white scurfiness appears on the 
skin. It is most perceptible towards the latter part of 
winter and in spring, and thus too plainly tells the story 
of the winter's neglect. 



LICE. — HOW TO DESTEOY THEM. 289 

An ointment composed chiefly of sulphur has been 
found most effectual. Some mercurial ointment may be 
added, if the cows are kept housed ; but, if let out 
during the day, the quantity must be very small, else 
salivation is produced by their licking themselves. 

The ointment may be made of flour of sulphur one 
pound, strong mercurial ointment two ounces, common 
turpentine one half-pound, lard one and a quarter 
pounds. Melt the turpentine and lard together, and stir 
in the sulphur as they begin to cool off; then rub down 
the mercurial ointment on some hard substance with 
the other ingredients. Rub the whole in with the hand, 
and take care to leave no places untouched, once a day, 
for three days ; and after this, if any places are left un- 
cured, rub it in over them. There is no danger in this 
application, if the animal is not exposed to severe cold. 
This will be pretty sure to effect a speedy cure, if aided 
by cleanliness, pure air, and a nutritious diet. 

Another wash for mange is the following: Pyrolig- 
neous acid four ounces, water a pint ; mix and apply. 

Lice show unpardonable neglect of duty wherever 
they are suffered to exist. They crawl all over the 
stable-floor and the stalls, on the pastures, and a touch 
is sufficient to give them to other animals. They 
worry and trouble the poor animal constantly ; and no 
thriftiness can be expected where they are found. If 
the mange ointment does not completely destroy them, 
as it often will, take bees-wax, tallow, and lard, in equal 
parts, and rub it into the hide in the most thorough man- 
ner, with the hand or a brush, two and a half pounds 
for a small cow, three pounds for a large one. The 
next day it may be washed off in soft soap, and the 
lice will have disappeared from the animal, but not 
always from the barn. Some use a wash of powdered 
lobelia-seeds two ounces, steeped in boiling water, and 
25 19 



290 WAEBLES. — LOSS OF CUD. 

applied with a sponge. Others hang up tobacco-leaves 
over the stalls. This may do to keep them away ; but, 
after the animal is covered with them, they are not so 
easily scared. 

Warbles. — The gad-fly is very troublesome to cattle 
towards the end of summer. The fly alights on the back 
of the cow, punctures the skin, and lays her eggs under 
it. A tumor is now formed, varying in size, which soon 
bursts and leaves a small hole for the grub already 
hatched to breathe through. Here the insect feeds on 
its surroundings, and grows up to considerable size. 
All this time the animal is probably suffering more or 
less pain, and often tries to lick or rub the part affected, 
if possible. Farmers often press them out with the fin- 
ger and thumb. The best way is to puncture the skin 
with a common pen-knife, and then press out the 
grub. They injure the hide more than most people are 
aware of. 

Loss of Cud is a consequence of indigestion, and is 
often brought on by eating too greedily of food which 
the cow is not used to. Loss of cud and loss of appetite 
are synonymous. Gentle purgatives may be given, 
with such as salts, ginger, and sulphur. But when a cow 
is surfeited, as already said, I should prefer to withhold 
food entirely, or for the most part, till the system can 
regulate itself. 

Diseases of Calves. — The colostrum, or first milk of 
the *cow after calving, contains medicinal qualities pecu- 
liarly adapted to cleanse the young calf, and free its 
bowels from the matter always existing in them at birth. 
This should, therefore, never be denied it. Bleeding 
at the navel, with which calves are sometimes seriously 
troubled, may generally and safely be stopped by tying 
a string around the cord which hangs suspended 
from it. 



DISEASES OF CALVES. — SCOURS. 291 

But Diarrhcea, Purging, or Scours, is the most dan- 
gerous complaint with which calves are afflicted. This 
is caused often by neglect, or exposure to wet and cold, 
or insufficiency of food at one time and over-feeding at 
another. Stinting the calf in food or attention will often 
involve the loss of considerable profit on the cow for 
the year. When purging is once fully seated from 
several days' neglect, it is often difficult to remove it. 

The acidity on the stomach which always attends it 
must first be removed. A mild purgative medicine may 
be given. Rhubarb and magnesia is a very convenient 
article, and may easily be given in ounce doses along 
with the milk. Potash is also to be given in quarter- 
ounce doses in the same way. Two ounces of castor- 
oil, or two ounces of Epsom salts, might be given with 
the desired effect. After this, mild astringents may be 
given. Take prepared chalk two drachms, or magnesia 
one ounce, powdered opium ten grains, powdered cate- 
chu half a drachm, tincture of capsicum two drachms, 
essence of peppermint five drops. Mix together, and 
give twice a clay in the milk or gruel. 

After giving the above repeatedly without effect, 
which will rarely happen, take Dover's powders two 
scruples, starch or arrow-root powdered one ounce, 
cinnamon powder one drachm, and powdered kino 
half a drachm. Boil the starch or arrow-root in water 
till it thickens, and when cold stir in the other ingre- 
dients. Give night and morning. This complaint is 
often attended by inflammation of the bowels and 
general fever. 

It is a good plan to keep a lump of chalk constantly 
before calves after they are two or three weeks old. 
It corrects acidity on the stomach, and is otherwise 
useful to them. 

Constipation or Costiveness sometimes attacks calves 



292 COSTIVENESS. — HOOVE. — CANKER. 

a few days old, that have not been judiciously managed. 
It may be brought on by putting a calf to a cow whose 
milk is too old, or from feeding a calf from the milk of 
several cows mixed. It results from too heavy a mass 
of coagulated milk in the fourth stomach, which becomes 
very much swollen with hard curd. It is difficult to 
remedy. The best way is to pour down some Epsom 
salts, two ounces, dissolved in two quarts of warm 
water, by means of a horn or bottle, and follow this by 
half the dose every six hours. 

Constipation sometimes appears in calves from two 
to four months old, when their food is too suddenly 
changed. The bowels must be opened and the hardened 
mass in the stomach softened very soon, or it will lead 
to fatal consequences. 

Farmers are generally very careless about observing 
these things till it is too late. As already said, preven- 
tion is cheaper than cure ; but, if the complaint once 
appears, no time should be lost to administer a purge 
of salts in proportion to the size of the animal or the 
severity of the attack. Many a valuable animal will be 
saved by it. 

The Hoove often appears among calves after being- 
turned out to pasture. The young animal coughs vio- 
lently, and appears in pain. It should be removed at 
once to a dry place, and physicked. If taken in season, 
it is easily cured. If neglected, it will often prove fatal. 
This complaint assumes the form of an epidemic at times, 
and becomes very prevalent and troublesome. 

Calves sometimes suffer from Canker in the Mouth, 
especially at the time of teething. The gums swell, 
and fever sets in. Common alum or borax, dissolved in 
water, may be applied, and a mild purgative admin- 
istered, in the shape of one or two ounce doses of 
Epsom salts. 



THE MEDICINES AT HAND. 293 

The diseases and complaints mentioned above are 
nearly all that afflict our dairy stock ; and the list at 
least includes all the common diseases and their treat- 
ment. Some of the diseases and epidemics from which 
the cattle of Great Britain and other countries suffer 
are not known at all here, or are of so very rare occur- 
rence as not to have attracted attention ; and among 
these may be named pleuro-pneuinonia, typhus fever, 
cow-pox, and various epidemics which have from time to 
time decimated the cattle of all Europe. To accidents 
of various kinds, to wounds, trouble with the eyes, and 
to lameness from other causes than those named, they 
are, indeed, more or less subject ; but no work could 
anticipate or cover the treatment best in every case, 
and much must be left to the judgment of the owner. 

I have tried to make this chapter, which I consider 
one of the most important of any to the dairy farmer, of 
practical value to every one who owns or has the care of 
a cow. But, lest a want of familiarity with some of the 
medicines recommended for particular diseases, or the 
fear of the expense of procuring and keeping them on 
hand, should deter some one from providing himself 
with a good medicine-chest, I wish to remind the reader 
that no small portion of them are always to be found in 
every well-regulated household, and that the others are 
obtained at so little expense that no one need be with- 
out them for a single day. 

Let us see, for instance, how many of them are at 
hand. But few families are destitute of a supply of 
ginger, camphor, red pepper, lard, molasses, cinnamon, 
peppermint, starch, turpentine, tallow, bees-wax, bur- 
dock, and caraway-seed. The farmer's wife or daughter 
will generally have a supply of ammonia or hartshorn. 

Now, I wish to suggest to the farmer or dairyman 
who happens to live at a distance from the apothecary 
25* 



294 COST OF MEDICINE-CHEST. 

to provide himself with a convenient little medicine- 
chest, and put into it say four times the quantities of 
the various medicines which are mentioned in the pre- 
ceding pages, carefully bottled and labelled for use. To 
aid in this simple plan, which might be the means of 
saving an animal worth twenty times its cost, I have 
obtained, from a ivJiolesale druggist, about the average 
cost of the following quantities and kinds of medicines, 
which include all, or nearly all, that would be likely to 
be needed : Five pounds of Epsom salts, .18; one pint of 
castor-oil, .25 ; one pint of sweet spirits of nitre, .19 ; 
one pound of powdered nitrate of potash, .20 ; one 
pound carbonate of ammonia, .23 ; one half-pound sal 
ammoniac, .08 ; one pint of tincture of red pepper (hot 
drops), .37 ; one ounce of hydriodate of potash, .30 ; 
one pound chloride of lime, .10: one pound sulphate of 
iron, .10 ; 2 pounds powdered sulphur, .16; one pint of 
tincture of ginger, 37 ; one quart of essence of anise- 
seed, .50 ; one half-pound sulphuric ether, .20 ; one 
half-pound powdered sassafras-bark, .20 ; one quarter- 
pound magnesia, .06 ; one quarter-pound rhubarb, 30 
(the common will answer instead of prepared) ; one 
ounce powdered opium, .43; one quarter-pound catechu, 
.06 ; one ounce Dover's powders, .25 ; 2 ounces gum 
kino, .05 ; one half-pound mercurial ointment, .37! '■> an d 
one- pound aloes, .25. Then keep in the chest a good pro- 
bang, which is a flexible tube made for the purpose, and 
is much safer and better for introducing into the throat 
or gullet of an animal than a common whip-stick, which 
some use. This costs about $3.50, and can be pro- 
cured at almost any veterinary surgeon's. This whole 
chest and contents will cost less than ten dollars. 

Let the farmer also become familiar with the structure 
and anatomy of his animals. It will open a wide field 
of useful and interesting investigation. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE DAIEY HUSBANDRY OP HOLLAND. 

This chapter I translate from an admirable little work in German, 
" Die Holldndische Rindviehzucht und Milchwirthschqft in Konigreich 
Holland," by Ellerbrock, a distinguished veterinary surgeon, pro- 
fessor of cattle pathology and cattle-breeding in the Agricultural 
Institute at Zeyst, in Holland. 



Milking and Treatment of Milk. — The cows are 
turned to pasture early in spring, and stay there day 
and night throughout the pasture-season. They are 
milked daily in a particular part of the lot called the 
milk-yard. This is kept in some instances permanently 
in the same place ; in others, it is changed about at 
pleasure. A shady part of the pasture is generally 
selected, and it is commonly enclosed with a board fence. 
The cows are driven into this yard to be milked, when 
not already there at the usual time. The milking is 

done by male and female do- 
mestics, who carry their pails, 
cans, and dishes, hung on a 
kind of wooden yoke, Fig. 
84, neatly cut out, painted, 
and set with copper nails. 
This is swung over the shoulders, or else the dairy 
utensils are carried on donkeys, ponies, or hand-carts ; 
or, where there is water communication, in boats, twice 
a day, to the yard. 




296 



THE DUTCH DAIEY. 



In the larger dairies the utensils in common use are 
small wooden pails, Fig. 85 ; painted in variegated colors, 
with bright brazen or iron hoops, and neatly washed ; 
a strainer, Fig. 86, made of horse-hair ; a large wooden 




Fig. 85. 





tunnel, Fig. 87, for pouring the milk into the cans 
and casks ; one or more buckets, Fig. 88, usually of 





brass, lined with tin, large enough to hold the milk of 
several cows together, or from twelve to eighteen 
quarts. In many dairies they have wooden buckets, 
Fig. 89, painted green or blue outside, with black stripes, 
and with iron or brass handles, kept very bright. Here 
the buckets are coated over inside with white oil-colors. 
These are borne by the yoke (Fig. 84), or in some of 
the ways indicated above. 

In many places, instead of buckets for keeping the 
milk together, they use copper or brass cans lined inside 
with tin, and in the form of antique vases or large 
beer-jugs, Figs. 90 and 91, which are constantly kept 
brightly polished. In other places, they use for hold- 
ing the milk smaller or larger barrels, Fig. 92, with 
broad hoops also kept constantly polished. 



THE DAIET UTENSILS. 



297 



Instead of the yoke a soft cushion is also used, which 
the dairymaids strap over their backs, so that they hang 




Tig. 90. 



Fig. 91. 



Tig. 92 



down and rest over the hips and thighs. On this cush- 
ion the cans are laid, and fastened with broad hempen 
straps, that they may not press too heavily upon the 
body. This band is called the milk-strap. Where the 
milk is carried home on a hand-cart, neatly-woven 
baskets are fastened upon little wagons in which the 
cans are placed. If it is to be carried in casks, the same 
arrangement is fixed upon a hand-cart. Two wooden 
floats are laid upon the milk in the buckets, in order to 
protect it from slopping over. One or more large milk- 
casks or tubs, in which it may cool off properly, are also 
used. The size of these tubs is different, as well as the 
materials of which they are made. Where the cooling- 
is not left to the air alone, but is sought to be effected 
by hanging the milk-tub into cold water, the vessels are 
made of metal. The large vase-like jars are also used 
for this purpose. These hold about thirty cans, or 
twenty-six quarts. Wooden bowls are used, of different 
sizes and forms, and earthen pans, rather deeper than 
broad, Figs. 93 and 94, in which the milk as it cools is 



298 



THE MILKING. 



set for the cream to rise. A large pot for collecting the 
cream until there is enough to churn, and wooden skim- 
mers for taking off the cream, are also used. The milker 





sits upon a common four-legged, and sometimes one- 
legged milkirig-stool, and milks either the teats on one 
side, or one hind and one front teat, the pail being 
held between the knees. The cows are milked regu- 
larly at four or five o'clock in the morning, and at five 
or six in the afternoon. 

In West Friesland, North and South Holland, Utrecht, 
and other places, it is customary to tie the tail to the 
leg of the cow, that she may not annoy the milker. 
Most cows do not resist this, being accustomed to it 
from the beginning. They also pass a cord around the 

"71 




-^=&^SS>» 



horns and tie her to a post stuck in the ground during 
the milking, as in Fig. 95. In many provinces only the 
unruly cows are tied in this way. 

The milking takes place on the right side of the cow, 



THE PEACTICE IN WINTEE. 299 

so that the milker sits on this side. In West Friesland 
and North Holland there is an exception to this rule. 
The cows are tied in pairs in the stalls, and one is 
milked on one side and the other on the other, the 
milker sitting with his back to the board partition, to 
avoid annoyance from either animal. 

When the milking is ended the milk is poured 
through the hair strainer into the bucket, or through a 
strainer or tunnel in the cans or casks, whichever are 
used. The milk is taken to the dairy-house, without 
delay, in some of the ways already mentioned. When 
the yoke is used, one bucket is hung on the right side 
and another on the left, each with a float on the top of 
the milk to keep it from slopping over. The large 
metallic milk-cans, with wooden stoppers, are borne 
home on the cushions already described as being held 
by shoulder-knots strapped round the waist. The 
mode of transportation depends much on the distance 
from the dairy-house and the quantity to be carried. 

In winter, when the cows are in the barn, they are 
likewise milked twice a day, and the milk is at once 
strained through the hair strainer into casks made for 
the purpose. These implements differ according to the 
object pursued in the dairy; yet pans and pots are 
mostly used for raising the cream to be made into 
butter, since but few dairymen make cheese in winter. 

All utensils necessary for milking, the preservation 
of milk, and the making of butter and cheese, are kept 
with the utmost neatness. Where a stream of running- 
water flows through the yard, the implements are gene- 
rally washed in that, and flowing water is preferred for 
the purpose. But where the farm or dairy-house 
stands at a distance from a stream, a shallow fountain, 
or basin, is dug out in the earth, walled up, and so 
arranged that the water can be taken from it and fresh 



300 CLEANLINESS EXEMPLIFIED. 

water substituted when it gets impure. In such a 
basin, or in flowing water, all new wooden dairy uten- 
sils are soaked for a long time before being used ; but 
those in daily use are washed, rinsed, and scoured out 
with ashes, with the greatest care. None but cold, 
clear, fresh fountain or flowing water is taken for cleans- 
ing dairy implements. It is to be observed that, in 
large dairies, the use of water which is covered with 
newly-fallen honey-dew, for washing the dairy utensils, 
is carefully avoided. When the milk-vessels have been 
perfectly rinsed out in fresh water, they are, in many 
dairies, put into a large kettle of water over the fire, 
and properly scalded ; after which they are again cleanly 
washed with cold water, so that not the least particle 
of milk or impurity is to be seen, nor the least smell of 
it to be observed. The metallic milk-vessels and the 
metal parts of the wooden ones are cleansed with equal 
care and exactness, and kept polished. Dairymaids 
feel a pride in always having the brightest, most 
polished, and cleanest utensils, and each strives earnestly 
to excel the others in this respect. 

When the milk-vessels are scoured, scalded, and 
rinsed perfectly clean, they are hung on a stand of 
laths and poles, made for the purpose, to be properly 
dried. The round wooden milk-bowls, being made of 
one piece, are very easily broken or split, and must be 
handled with very great care in cleaning. To avoid 
breaking, a peculiar table is used for scouring them. 

The Dutch dairyman knows perfectly well that his 
dairy can secure him the highest profit only when the 
utmost cleanliness is the basis and groundwork of his 
whole business ; and so he keeps, with the most extraor- 
dinary carefulness, and even with anxiety, the great- 
est possible neatness in all parts of the dairy establish- 
ment. 



the yield of dutch cows. 301 

Determination of the Milking Qualities of the 
Cows. — The Dutch cattle are, in general, renowned 
for their dairy qualities ; but especially so are the cows 
of North Holland, which not only give a large quantity, 
but also a very good quality, so that a yield of sixteen 
to twenty-five cans * at every milking is not rare. Next 
to these come the West Friesland and South Dutch 
cows, from which from twenty to twenty-four cans of 
milk may be calculated on. Though one could not 
take a certain number and calculate surely what the 
yield of each cow would be, yet he could come very 
near the truth if he reckoned that a cow, in three hun- 
dred days, or as long as she is milked, gives, on an 
average, daily, from six to eight cans of milk, from 
which the whole annual yield would be from one 
thousand eight hundred to two thousand four hundred 
cans. Of this the cow gives one half in the first four 
months, one third in the next three, and in the 
remainder one sixth. These superficial results cannot 
be taken, however, as the fixed rule. 

Professor Wilkins, in his Handbook of Agriculture, 
gives the following estimates of the yield of milk : A 
good West Friesland or G-roningen cow will, after calv- 
ing, give daily fourteen quarts of milk. This will, after 
a while, be reduced to eight quarts. She may be milked 
three hundred and twenty-three days in the year, and 
her product in butter and cheese will amount to one 
hundred guldens. 

In Prof. Kop's Magazine it is stated that a medium- 
sized Friesland cow, which had had several calves, was 
giving daily, on good feed, five and a half to six buckets, 
or from twenty to twenty-two cans, and over. In South 
Holland, also, this quantity is considered a good yield 

* A Dutch can is a little less than our -wine quart. 

26 



302 TEEATMENT OF MILK. 

of a cow. Of the cows of Gelderland, Overyssel, and 
Utrecht, the yield cannot be reckoned higher than six- 
teen cans daily, and that only during the first half of 
their milking season. 

Treatment of Milk for Butter. — To get good 
butter it is quite necessary that the fresh milk be 
properly cooled before it is set for cream. In the great 
dairies of North and South Holland, which not only 
possess the best cattle, but may be given as models in 
dairy husbandry, they manage as follows : 

The milk, as it is brought from the pasture, is poured 
from the buckets, cans, and casks, through a hair 
strainer, into one vessel, the milk-kettle. These milk- 
kettles are not everywhere of the same size, or of simi- 
lar form, but are always riveted together with strong 
brass or copper bands, and lined with tin inside. The 
most common milk-kettles hold sixteen cans ; yet they 
are found so large as to hold three barrels, or about six 
hundred quarts. The peculiar kettle form is very rarely 
found, but more frequently the cylindrical, or vase- 
shaped. They are held either by two handles or one. 
The number required depends on the number of cows 
and the quantity of milk expected. 

The milk-kettles, when filled, are set into a basin 
with cold water, called the cool-bath, for the purpose of 
cooling the milk. The cool-bath is frequently in the 
kitchen, sometimes in the bauer-house, so called, or 
directly before the cow-room, near the spring. The 
latter is the most common and the most convenient 
place. The water reservoir is dug in the ground, and. 
an oblong four-cornered form is preferred for it ; the 
sides of the excavation being walled up with hard-burnt 
building-stones and cement, but the bottom is laid in 
tiles, either red, hard-burnt, or white glazed. Richer 
dairymen take finely-hewn blue stone or white marble 



THE COOL-BATH. 



303 



for it. The size of the reservoir is governed by the 
number of milk-kettles to be put into it, and so is its 
depth by their height, so that the rim of the kettle is on 
a level with the top of the cool-bath, Fig. 96. The 
sides of the cool-bath in the 
kitchen project some feet over 
the floor, yet are not so high 
that the setting in and taking 
out the milk-kettle will be at- 




Fig. 96. Cool-bath. 

tended with great inconvenience and trouble. Where 
it is desired to make the work of setting in or raising 
up the milk-kettles from the cool-bath as easy as pos- 
sible, a beam is fixed along the side of the trough, and 
iron props are firmly fixed, which extend out a Hi lie 
over the edge of the trough, half-way down from the 
beam. On these the operator can support himself in 
lowering or raising heavy vessels. These stays, or 
props, are sometimes fixed directly into the wall, along 



304 



THE BATH IN THE BAKN. 



which the cool-bath stands. Under the bottom of the 
reservoir, on the other side from where the water 
comes in, is an outlet, stopped with a tap or faucet, to 
let off the water. 

The cool-baths in the kitchen are, for the most part, 
on the floor, and extend up a convenient height ; whilst 
those in the cow-barns, as a general rule, are dug down 
and walled up, and their top is fastened to the floor of 
the barn. They are deep enough to allow the water 
for cooling the milk to come up to the rim of the milk- 




rig. 97. Cool-bath 

kettle ; but, in order to prevent men and cattle from 
falling in, it is covered with a strong wooden lid to 
shut down, as in Fig. 97. 



THE TIME OP COOLING. 305 

Such a cool-bath is used in the cow-room only in 
summer, when the heat is so great that it is difficult to 
keep the milk cool in the kitchen. The cool-bath in the 
cow-room is considered as only an auxiliary to that in 
the kitchen, and to be used only in case of necessity. 
The milk-kettles are hung by their handles, and let 
down by means of a crank. When the platform is not 
in use it is taken away from the cool-bath, and the cover 
is let down and kept closed. 

The milk is allowed to remain in the cool-bath until 
the froth has disappeared, and there is no difference in 
temperature between the water and the milk. The 
milk of one milking must give place for the next, so 
that it will be changed twice daily, morning and even- 
ing. A very great importance is, everywhere in the 
Dutch dairies, attached to this rapid cooling of the 
milk, because it is known by experience that it is thus 
greatly protected from turning sour.* 

The milk, when properly cooled, is brought to the 
milk-cellar, where it is immediately poured out of 
the milk-kettles into vessels designed to receive it. 
"Wooden bowls or pans, or high earthen pots, are used 
for holding it. The pans and pots are set on the table, 
and a small ladder, or hand-barrow, is laid on them, on 
which is placed the strainer, when the milk is poured 
from the kettles. The wooden milk-pans are of several 
forms, generally made of ash or of linden, and oval. 
They are, on an average, three and a half feet long, and 
half a foot broad, more or less ; but their dimensions 
vary. 

* It will be perceived that the arrangement for cooling the milk before 
setting in the pans, in the Dutch dairies, is very elaborate. I have fol- 
lowed the original in translating the above, though the practice in Hol- 
land differs widely from our own in this respect, and from that recom- 
mended in the preceding pages. The point may be worthy of careful 
experiment. — Translator. 

26* 20 



306 DEPTH IN THE PANS. 

It lias been found, by experience, that the flatter and 
shallower the pans, the quicker and better the cream 
rises. The milk-pots are pretty large, but are rather 
shallow than deep, glazed inside, of different forms, and 
different capacities ; but they are always broader on the 
top than at the bottom, though they stand firmly on a 
round, broad foot-piece. Milk pans and pots are rinsed 
with cold water before the milk is poured into them. 
When properly cleaned and filled, they are placed on 
shelves made for the purpose, in regular rows. These 
shelves are only a few feet high above the floor of the 
cellar, and of suitable width ; but, if there is not space 
enough for the milk, the pans are placed on the bottom 
of the cellar. The pots are also set along the walls, on 
firm board shelves. 

The milk-cellar, or rather the milk-room, Fig. 98, in 
the North and South Dutch dairies, is placed on the 
north side of the house, next to the kitchen, but a little 
lower than the latter, so that there are usually three 
steps down. The longer side, facing towards the 
north, has one window, whilst the gable end, with its 
two windows, faces towards the west. The windows 
are generally kept shut, and are open only nights in 
summer. The cellar is either arched or covered with 
strongly-boarded rafters, over which the so-called 
cellar-chamber is situated. The floor of this room is 
laid in lime or cement, with red or blue burnt tiles, so 
that nothing can pass doAvn through into the milk-cellar. 
In the cellar itself are the above-mentioned shelves and 
platforms for the milk-vessels along the walls, while 
outside, in front of the cellar, linden and juniper trees 
are planted, to prevent as much as possible the heat of 
the sun from striking upon the walls. Cleanliness, the 
fundamental principle of Dutch dairy husbandry, is 
carried to its utmost extent in the cellar. Barrels of 



DUTCH DAIRY-BOOM. 



307 




308 TIME FOR THE CREAM TO RISE. 

meat, bacon, vegetables of every kind, and everything 
which could possibly create a strong odor and infect 
the air, or impart a flavor to the milk, butter, or cheese, 
are carefully excluded. 

The vessels in which the milk is set remain standing 
undisturbed in their places, that the formation of cream 
may go on without interruption. Twenty-four hours, 
on an average, are thought to be necessary for the milk 
to stand, during which time the cream is twice taken 
off, once at the end of each twelve hours. The morn- 
ing's milk is skimmed in the evening, and the evening's 
on the next morning. But the milk always remains 
quite still till the dairymaid thinks it time to skim, 
which she decides by the taste. Long practice enables 
her to judge with great certainty by this mode of trial. 
When the cream is ripe it is taken off 
by the dairymaid with a shallow wooden 
skimmer, Fig. 99, in the form of a deep 
p plate, and carefully placed in a particular 
m<r 99 _ vessel — a bucket or cream-pot. The 
cream-pot is generally washed very clean, 
the staves very finely polished, striped with blue or 
white outside, and held together by broad brass or 
copper hoops, kept very bright. For closing the jar 
they use an ashen cover, which is either simply laid 
on by a common handle, or sometimes held on by 
brass or copper hinges. Both cream-pot and cover 
are always scoured quite white and clean. The cream 
remains there till enough is got for churning, or till 
it becomes of itself thick enough for butter. It is 
known to be of the proper consistence for butter when 
a long, slender, wooden spoon, thrust down into it, will 
stand erect. When in summer the cream does not get 
thick enough in season, they seek to hasten it by 
putting in a little butter-milk ; but in winter the ripen- 




METHODS OF CHURNING. 309 

ing of the cream is hastened by warming, either by 
holding the cream-pot over a coal-pan, or on a hearth- 
plate. 

The remainder, the skim-milk from the milk bowls 
or pans, sour milk, or butter-milk, is poured into a par- 
ticular vessel, and made into spice-cheese. 

Besides the methods here described for keeping milk 
for butter, milk is used for other purposes. Sweet 
milk cheese is made of the unskimmed milk ; cream is 
used in the house for coffee. Rennet is also added to 
fresh milk, and the product is immediately sold, being 
greatly relished by many. From skim-milk and butter- 
milk put together is made an article called kramery, 
by cooking the mixture, putting it into a linen bag, 
and hanging it in a cool part of the milk-cellar, or else- 
where, when the liquid drops out and leaves a mass of 
considerable consistence, called Hangebast. 

As soon as the milk is taken from the vessels, they 
are taken out of the cellar and carefully cleansed and 
dried before being used again. 

Methods of Churning. — Churning is the principal 
operation in the manufacture of butter, for by it the 
fatty particles are separated from the other constitu- 
ents. There are several methods in Holland of effect- 
ing this separation of the butter globules. The oldest 
and simplest is that of putting the cream into an 
upright churn, in which the cream is agitated by mov- 
ing a long dasher, pierced with holes, up and down, till 
the object is accomplished. 

There are, strictly speaking, only two forms of the 
churn which are used in all parts of the country. One 
is broad at the bottom and narrow at the top. This 
has been known from the earliest times, and is called 
the old churn, Fig. 100. 

This old churn is still used in many dairies, and it 



310 



VARIETIES OF CHURNS. 




has the preference over the other form, 
because it is thought to bring the butter 
quicker and more completely. 

The other form is more like a beer or 
brandy cask on end, being smaller at 
each end than in the middle, and is 
called the barrel-churn. Both kinds are 
made of oak-wood, and have wooden or 
broad metal hoops. In the one case 
they are painted outside ; in the other, 
they remain of the natural color, but are the more 
frequently scoured, so that the dark-colored oak-wood 
gets a whitish color. The metallic hoops are always 
kept polished bright. 

Both kinds are of different sizes, according as the 
quantity of cream is greater or less, or as they are to 
be worked by hand or animal power simply, or by 
machinery. In South Holland, where unquestionably 
the most butter is made, the barrel-churn is at each 
end about two feet and two inches in diameter, and 
in the centre is seven inches broader, with two-inch 
staves. The old churn, on the other hand, is usually 
fourteen inches at the top and twenty-five at the bot- 
tom. 

In North Holland and West Friesland, also, sizes are 
found in which one hundred and fifty to two hundred 
quarts of cream can be churned. The churns have each 
a strong cover at the top, which fits into their rim about 
the thickness of the hand, with a hole in the middle for 
the dasher. 

The churning is performed either by the hand motion 
of the dasher, as in all small dairies, and in the smallest 
churns, or by man-power with the help of certain 
mechanical contrivances. The means for effecting this 
are different, and so the churns have different names. 



MOVING THE DASHER. 311 

In many dairies, for instance, they have a lever con- 
nected with the dasher; in other places they use a 
flexible pole, fixed into the ceiling above, for facilitat- 
ing the motion of the dasher, or put a lever in motion 
with the feet, which raises and sinks the dasher. There 
are also complicated artificial butter-machines and 
butter-mills, which are named after the inventor, the 
manufacturer, or the motive power. The most known 
and widely used are the turning-mills, the wheel-mills, 
and the clock-work mills ; as the Hand Butter-Mill of 
Talk, Furst's churn, etc. 

There are also still more elaborate machine-works 
for moving the dasher, which are used in the larger 
dairies on account of their convenience and economy. 
Dog-power and horse-power churns are frequently met 
with. 

Churning in the Common Churn. — The use of this 
is well known. The dasher is moved up and down by 
hand, with the churn full of cream, till the butter 
particles are separated and collected together. The 
operator keeps his body in equilibrium, to exercise the 
power of moving the dasher regularly for agitating the 
cream. 

. The Lever Churn is very commonly used in South 
Holland, Fig. 101. The churn itself is barrel-form, 
as already described, and the dasher is put in motion 
by a lever. The upper end is pierced with holes, 
through which runs an iron pin. In a beam of the 
ceiling two joists are firmly fixed, about a foot and 
five inches long and four inches square, and several 
inches apart. The longer arm of the lever is four 
feet and seven inches ; the shorter, three feet and six 
inches. The churn stands under the short arm of the 
lever, where the dasher is fixed. By drawing the 
longer arm of the lever towards him, the operator 



312 



THE LEVEE CHURN. 




Fig. 101. 



presses the dasher down through the cream. This 
mode is far less wearisome than the hand-churn, 
because by the lever, with less expense of power, a far 
greater agitation is produced. A weight is sometimes 
attached to the longer arm, by which the power required 
is still further reduced. 

Churning with an Elastic Rod. — The old-fashioned 
churn is set in motion by the aid of another kind of 
power, as seen in Fig. 102. A long, tough, flexible 
stick is fastened into the cross-beam in the ceiling, so 
that its larger end is held firm by two iron clasps. The 
elasticity of the rod is such that, when the smaller end 
is drawn down by hand, which, at the same time, moves 



THE ELASTIC ROD 



313 



the dasher, it rebounds, and thus saves considerable 
expenditure of power. 





Fig. 102. 

Churning with the Treadle Lever. — In many- 
places the churn is put in motion by the feet, as in Fig. 
103, where several levers are united to produce the 
upward and downward motion of the dasher. The 
longer arm of the lever is connected with the churn, 
and the shorter is set in motion by a foot-board. 
The foot-board lies on a roller, with its longer part 
attached to the lever ; and by throwing the weight of 
the body upon this part the shorter arm of the lever 
is drawn down, and the longer, attached to the churn- 
27 



314 



THE TEEADLE LEVEE. 




dasher, is raised. The mode of operation is so plainly 
seen in the cut as to need no explanation. 

Among the more ingenious contrivances used for 
churning in Holland belongs the churn invented by 
Piirst. The body is somewhat similar to the barrel- 
churn, but is smaller ; and it is of uniform diameter 
throughout, as in Fig. 104. It is covered with a 
wooden lid, furnished with a convenient handle, and 
stands on a low platform, to which it is fixed, when in 
use, by means of a screw, Jc. The motion is com- 
municated to the dasher by means of a wheel, or wind- 
lass, and an endless cord. 

In the interior of the cylinder is placed a kind of 



THE HAND BUTTER-MILL, 



315 




ventilator, Fig. 105. This consists of eight wooden 
wings, pierced with holes, and motion is communicated 
to it by means of the wheel, 5, connected by the 




Fig. 105. 



cord to the larger windlass. The wings of the machine 
when set in motion, strike incessantly in the cream, and 
so powerfully that the whole mass is agitated, and in this 
manner the separation of the butter particles is soon 
effected. The motion is so rapid that it is often neces- 
sary to turn the crank very slowly, especially just as the 
butter is coming. 

Vale's Hand Butter-Mill, Fig. 106, has many ad- 



vantages. 



It is less fatiguing to work than the old- 



316 



THE DOG-POWER CHURN. 



fashioned churn, and even than Fiirst's, because the 
motion of the body required is simple and less exact- 
ing. And again, the churn takes up less room, and is 




Lflsa^' 



easily transported, which is an important consideration 
in churning, on account of the influence of the tempe- 




Fig. 107. 



THE DOUBLE DASHER. 



317 



rature. In summer the heat may delay, or render the 
operation difficult, and in winter the coldness presents 
obstacles. A transportable churn can be moved into a 
cool place in summer, and a warm one in winter, when 
it is desirable. The dasher of the churn is also seen 
separate in the same figure. 

The Dog-power Churn, Fig. 107, economizes labor, 
while, at the same time, more butter is obtained, on 
account of the uniformity of the agitation produced. It 
is in use in all the Dutch provinces. The form and size 
of the churn are comparatively indifferent ; but the 
tread-wheel and direction of the moving power are the 
important points. The diameter of the wheel is from 
ten to twelve feet, and' the rim or outer circumference 

is made of boards two 
feet wide. The weight 
of the animal turns the 
wheel and moves the 
dasher by means of 
cogs, as shown in the 
figure. 

Where there is a 
sufficient supply of 
moving power, a churn 
with two dashers is 
sometimes attached, as 
shown in Fig. 108, in 
which case one dasher 
moves down while the 
other is raised. 

A large and strong 

dog is required, and 

he is easily taught to 

keep to his work, by beginning with short trials, and 

gradually lengthening them. A steady and uniform step 

27* 




Fig. 108. 



318 



THE HORSE-POWER CHURN 



is necessary, and this will soon be acquired. The dog 
is sometimes left free, and sometimes tied by a line. 




■ri- : : 




Churning by Horse-power. — On large farms and in 
extensive dairies the churning is done by horse-power, 




Fig. no 



THE TIME IT TAKES TO CHURN. 319 

as shown in Fig. 109. The form of the churn itself 
is optional in this case, also. The size of the wheel va- 
ries, but it is seldom less than nine or ten feet in diam- 
eter, furnished with cogs on the upper surface, which 
are from four to sis inches long, and play into a smaller 
wheel, the axle of which is attached to the dasher of 
the churn. A third and smaller wheel is sometimes 
introduced, as in Fig. 110. A quick and regular step 
is required of the animal, and a quiet and docile horse 
is always preferred. A horse adapted to this work com- 
mands a good price. Blinders are always used on the 
horse while churning. 

Duration of the Churning. — In whatever way the 
churning is performed, the result is always a separation 
of the fatty particles from the other constituents of 
the milk. As soon as the churning indicates that the 
butter particles increase in size and collect together, 
the motion of the dasher must be hastened till the but- 
ter has come together in a large mass. Great care 
should be taken to observe the appearance of this form- 
ation. The Dutch dairymaids acquire great skill, by 
long practice and experience, in judging of the proper 
moment when the separation of the particles has com- 
pletely taken place. Very great importance is with 
justice attached to this skill, for it is undoubtedly true 
that one with this knowledge can get far more and 
better butter from milk of the same quality, the same 
quantity, and skimmed at the same time. 

The cream taken from the milk of thirty-five cows, 
after standing twenty-four hours, is generally churned 
in summer in less than an hour, sometimes in three 
quarters of an hour. In very hot weather the cream- 
pot is frequently set into the cool-bath of fresh water 
for five or six hours before the churning begins, and it 
churns the easier for it. Cold water is never poured 



320 



WORKING OF THE BUTTER, 





Fig. 112. 

now rinsed, 



into the churn with the cream. In winter, as well as in 
cold weather in spring and fall, warm water is some- 
times poured in with the cream. 

Working and Treatment of Butter. — When the 
churning is finished, the dairy-woman 
takes out the butter with a wooden 
scoop, Fig. Ill, and puts it into a 
tub for further working. The tub, 
Fig. 112, is a 
broad, shallow vessel, open at the 
top, and having an opening at the 
bottom which is stopped by a 
bung. The scoop is pierced with 
holes, through which the butter-milk 
drains. The butter put into the tub is 
salted, and formed. 

The tub is put upon a low, firm table, and the butter 
is worked by the hands, or by a shallow, rather wide 
and strong wooden ladle, until the butter is united into 
one firm and entire mass. Many 
dairy-women are accustomed to 
work the butter out from the mid- 
dle towards all sides before bring- 
ing the whole mass together in the 
tub. Then very clear and pure 
fresh cold water is poured 
upon the butter, and 
worked through it till all 
the milky particles are 
entirely removed. After 
this is done in several 
workings, the bung is 
removed from the bottom 
of the tub, and the watery 
matter runs down through a little strainer, as in Fig. 113. 




Fig. 113. 



SALTING. — PEEPAEING FOE MARKET-DAY. 321 

As a general rule, butter is washed with water arid 
worked over eleven or twelve times ; yet the operator 
must judge whether the butter contains any particles of 
milk, and must work with water till, as it runs off, it is 
no longer whitish, but perfectly clear. Butter some- 
times becomes too soft from too much working, if it is 
all done at once ; it is then worked over two or three 
times, and allowed to stand in cold water after each 
working, which preserves its hardness and texture. 
This whole operation is called the washing of the butter. 
When the washing is finished, the butter is cut with 
a blunt, saw-toothed knife, Fig. 114, in every direction, 

in order to remove all 
hairs, or fibres of any 
Fig - m - kind, which by any pos- 

sibility have got into it during the day. It is then 
sprinkled over with white, finely-powdered salt, the 
quantity of which is regulated by the taste ; and this is 
perfectly worked in, so that the whole is uniformly 
salted. Most dairy-women determine the quantity of 
salt by the eye and the taste, and acquire such facility 
by continued practice that they always get the proper 
quantity ; but less experienced ones take the salt by 
weight. The salting is not all done at once, but is con- 
tinued three or four days, twelve hours intervening 
between each application, until all the salt has dissolved, 
and not a crystal is to be found. If the butter has a 
speckled and variegated appearance, it is a sign that the 
salt is not completely worked in, and the neglect must 
be remedied by working it over still more in the most 
thorough manner. When the salt is all dissolved, the 
butter is brought into single balls and got ready for 
the next market-day, or the whole mass is put into a 
particular keg, in order to be taken to market at some 
subsequent time as firkin-butter. 

21 



322 



THE BUTTER-MOULDS. 



The Poem of Fresh Butter. — The form of the but- 
ter is made by taking a suitable quantity and press- 
ing it into a mould, and then taking it out by knocking 
on the mould. Many different forms of butter-moulds 
are in use in the different sections of Holland, such as 
are shown in Figs. 115, 116, and others. 





Fig. 115. Kg. 116. 

The figures impressed on the butter are given by the 
mould, where it is deeply engraved ; or they are made 
after the butter is taken out of the mould, and for this pur- 
pose a peculiar instrument is used, Fig. 117, a kind of flat 
wooden spoon, with a short, convenient handle, 
and long grooves in the broad, flat surface. Each 
region has its own peculiar stamp, or special 
figures, which are given to lump-butter, to which 
particular attention is paid by the purchaser. 
The butter-dealer knows exactly that in one 
section butter is stamped in one way, in another 
section in some other way ; and that the butter 
of one section, with its peculiar stamp, is worth 
Fig. ii7. more than that of another. 
The butter-moulds are generally made of linden-wood, 
but must always be large enough to hold at least a cer- 
tain prescribed weight of butter ; for all lump-butter 
brought for sale to the weekly market must be of a 
prescribed weight. This weight is very different, and 
almost every city has different regulations and market 
customs ; yet, in most places, a pound is the legal 




THE PACKING OF BUTTER. 323 

weight. Certain market-masters, or inspectors of but- 
ter, are appointed, and watch that all the butter has its 
proper weight. If too light, it is forfeited by the 
seller, who is also punished for fraud. The butter 
brought to market is generally covered with very clean 
white cloths, and several sample lumps are put for 
inspection in a large butter-bowl, basket, or shallow 
box. 

Many dairymen are accustomed in spring, when the 
first grass butter is made, to send their regular custom- 
ers a few little lumps of fresh May or grass butter. 
These presents generally have a peculiar form, and on 
the specimens most carefully prepared some animal is 
moulded, as a sheep lying down, a dog, &c, with a bunch 
of green grass or buttercups in its mouth. The dairy- 
woman herself usually presents this butter in a beauti- 
ful milk-bowl adorned with grass and flowers, covered 
with glittering white cloths. 

The Packing op Butter in Firkins and Barrels. — 
If the butter packed in firkins and barrels is to be kept 
a long time, experience and knowledge are required to 
pack it so that it will not be injured. The form and 
size of these casks are different in different sections and 
provinces. Where butter-making forms a chief branch 
of dairy business, the particular form and size which 
have been used for a long time are adhered to, because 
dairymen know very well that the public recognizes 
their choice butter by the form and size of the casks, 
and buys it the more readily. The greatest anxiety of 
the Dutch butter-maker is to keep up the old, well-earned 
reputation which Dutch butter has in every foreign 
country, both for its intrinsic good qualities, the result 
of the process of manufacture, and for its extraordinary 
appearance as an article of commerce. 

For the proper preservation of the good qualities of 



324 THE CASKS REGULATED BY LAW. 

butter, it is of the highest importance to have the casks 
properly made and treated ; but the mode of salting and 
packing the butter in them is also of special import- 
ance, since this is examined at the sale. The old and 
customary forms and sizes of butter-casks are, there- 
fore, of great consequence to the butter-maker, because 
every butter-dealer and judge of butter recognizes at 
once, by the external form of the casks, from what sec- 
tion the butter comes, and makes up his mind on the 
money value of the article from these appearances. 

It was not originally known what kinds of wood were 
best for transporting butter long distances in, and pre- 
serving its highest qualities ; and butter-casks were 
made of several kinds of wood, as oak, beech, willow, 
etc. But it was for the interest of the government that 
Dutch butter should maintain its reputation for extraor- 
dinary qualities abroad, and the most rigid laws were 
enacted, prescribing from what wood the casks should 
be made, etc. ; and now only oak is allowed to be used, 
and the casks are all inspected and stamped according 
to law. * * * * 

Before the butter is packed the casks are properly 
cleaned and prepared, for which practice and experience 
are requisite. 

Old butter-casks that have been previously used are 
cleaned of every particle of fat and dirt remaining in 
them, and scoured and washed out as carefully as pos- 
sible, and are placed for several days in running water 
before they are used again. If no running water is at 
hand, quite clean pond or spring water is taken, and all 
impure water is carefully avoided. After they have lain 
in the water five or six days, they are carefully scoured 
out with good wood-ashes and sand, and again well 
rinsed. After several scourings and soakings, they are 
put into a kettle over a fire and carefully scalded ; and 



TREATMENT OP NEW CASKS. 325 

then, when cold, again scoured and rinsed, for which 
the most judicious dairymen use milk instead of water, 
and they are then placed to dry in the air. They are 
fit for use only when everything has been done in the 
most careful manner. 

But new butter-casks require still more particular and 
careful treatment before they can be filled with butter 
without fear of injury. They are got ready for pack- 
ing in several different ways. Some dairymen let them 
lie in pure water a whole summer and winter long, and 
wash them out in lye, and then treat them just as they 
do those that have been used. Others, however, who 
give the new casks the preference over the old, but 
who cannot wait for the soaking in lye over summer 
and winter, treat them in the following manner : They 
prepare a lye of good American potash, which generally 
contains the most alkali, in a cask holding some three 
hundred quarts, taking a pound of potash to twenty 
pounds of water. For a cask of the size named fifteen 
pounds of potash are used, which is prepared by pour- 
ing boiling water upon it and stirring constantly, add- 
ing a little more water as the potash dissolves. "With 
this lye, which will be about five degrees strong by 
Beaume's aerometer, the butter-barrels are entirely 
filled. The barrels stand two hours filled with lye, and 
are then emptied and exposed to the air to dry, without 
being scoured out with water or milk. The lye may be 
used again for other new barrels, even though a part 
of its strength may be gone. Potash is added, from 
time to time, to keep up the specified degree of strength. 
A solution of fifteen pounds of coarsely-powdered alum 
is prepared in about three hundred quarts of hot water, 
in a vessel as large as the lye-cask. The butter-barrels 
are also filled full of the solution of alum, and allowed 
to stand twenty-four hours. This alum solution must 
28 



326 EFFECT OF LYE ON THE BAEEELS. 

also be of five degrees strength byBeaunie's scale, and 
it can be used over and over by adding more alum now 
and then. After emptying out the alum and lye, they 
are dried a day in the sun and air, and then rinsed out 
in fresh, pure water, when they can be used for packing 
butter without fear. Some add a little sulphate of 
iron or green copperas to the alum, when the solution 
is more powerful ; yet the management of the butter- 
barrels is then more troublesome, and requires more 
experience. The effect of the copperas has also the 
disadvantage that it blackens the barrels, which, though 
it does not injure them, is not liked by the purchaser. 

By this treatment the new butter-barrels are much 
more quickly and cheaply cleansed, and got ready for 
packing and transporting butter, than by the course 
pursued with old barrels. The barrels, treated as above, 
are not only quite water-tight, but the wood is stronger 
and more durable. By means of the potash-lye and the 
alum solution the tannin is taken from the oak-wood 
used in the barrels, which, if it remained, would give a 
disagreeable taste to the butter. The effect of the pot- 
ash and alum upon the wood of the barrels is quite 
harmless, and does not impart the least unhealthy quality 
to the butter. 

When the old or new barrels have been cleansed and 
prepared, in either of the ways indicated, suitably for 
packing the butter, the bottom of the barrel is evenly 
covered with salt. Then a layer of butter which has 
been thoroughly washed and salted is made, and 
another layer of salt, and so alternate layers of salt 
and butter till the barrel is full, when a little brine of 
salt and water is poured on top. The butter is now 
ready to be laid in the cellar, and thence to be sold and 
exported. When the dairy is not sufficiently large to 
fill a barrel each day, the butter of several churn- 



SUPPLY OF THE HOME MARKET. 



327 



ings must be used, and the barrel filled from time to 
time as it stands in the cellar. In that case the upper 
layer of butter is left covered with salt, and the cover 
of the barrel is closed down tight. In most large dai- 
ries a barrel is generally filled at one churning, which is 
considered better for the quality of the butter. The 
butter is always packed in so firmly that no space is left 
unfilled. 

In doing up butter for sale at home, or at a neighbor- 
ing market, the lumps are worked into the form of half 
a sphere, and put into little bright-hooped boxes, made 
to fit into larger casks, which can be nicely covered and 
closed up, as seen in Fig. 119, where the dairy-woman 
holds a box in her hand. The covered casks are also 
seen carefully nailed up. 




Fig. 119. 

The buyer who wishes to try the butter uses a long 
iron or steel borer, hollow inside, and furnished with a 
handle, as also seen in the cut. This not only enables 
him to test the quality but the uniformity of the butter 
in the cask. 



328 ARTIFICIAL COLORING OF BUTTER. 

Coloring of Butter. — The practice of coloring but- 
ter is founded on the fact that we are accustomed to 
form our judgment at once of the qualities of the arti- 
cle from the whiteness or the yellowness of its color. 
Whiter butter is less attractive generally than yellow 
summer or grass-made butter. The color has come to 
be important to the seller, and artificial means are found 
to regulate it. 

The coloring is made as follows : About a pound of 
butter is melted, so that the heavier parts sink to the 
bottom, when the light, clear fat on the top is poured 
into another dish. In this fat thus poured off is put a 
piece of annatto about the size of a walnut, wrapped 
up in a linen cloth, and it is then again put over the 
fire. The coloring matter of the annatto strains through 
the linen cloth, and turns the butter brown red, when 
it is allowed to cool off. "When the butter is to be col- 
ored, some of this brown red is melted, salted, and 
mixed very carefully into the butter after washing. The 
quantity of coloring matter used depends on the color 
which the maker wants to impart to his butter, and a 
little practice soon enables him to take the right quan- 
tity. Others pour the coloring matter directly upon 
the butter to attain the same end. 

In coloring artificially it is important to get a uniform- 
ity of color, which is the result of very thorough work- 
ing. Colored butter must not be marbled. 

The cream is sometimes colored before churning. 
The annatto is put into a clean beech-wood lye, and as 
much of this colored and strained lye is taken as is 
necessary to produce the desired color in the butter. It 
is then churned as usual. 

Turmeric is sometimes used instead of annatto for 
coloring butter. It has no advantage, however, over 
annatto. 



THE USE OF BUTTER-MILK. 329 

In many sections the butter is colored with an ex- 
tract of saffron in water, or of marigold, or with the 
juice of carrots, which is applied to the cream before 
churning. 

The coloring adds nothing to the quality or the taste. 
It is done for the sake of the looks ; but it gives the 
butter a deceptive appearance. 

Use op the Butter-milk. — The butter-milk in the 
churn is poured into a great cask, which in large 
dairies, as a general rule, is painted blue outside and 
white inside, with broad black iron hoops. It stands 
generally in the kitchen covered with a wooden lid. 
Butter-milk is used either in cooking, or for calves or 
swine, or is sold. 

Dairymen in the vicinity of large cities have barrels 
with broad, bright brass hoops, in which they carry 
their butter-milk to market. It is put into them 
through a bung-hole, and when full the wooden bung 
is wound with linen and driven in. In these barrels 
the butter-milk is carried to Amsterdam, Rotterdam, 
etc., sometimes by boats on the canals, sometimes on 
wagons, and by yokes, and there sold to the grocers at 
wholesale, to be again sold out by them. The butter- 
milk thus brings an income by no means inconsiderable 
to well-managed dairies. 

The Manufacture of the different kinds of Dutch 
Cheese. — From time immemorial, cheese, as an article 
of commerce, which has had a large sale, has brought 
an extensive income to the cattle-breeders and dairy- 
men where its manufacture has been largely carried 
on, as everywhere in West Friesland, North and South 
Holland, and along the borders of the crooked Rhine in 
Utrecht. 

Dairymen are not the only ones who' enjoy the advan- 
tage which grows out of the cheese-trade ; but a large 
28* 



330 VABIOTJS KINDS OF CHEESE. 

number of other people derive considerable profit from 
it ; and support themselves entirely by it. Even the 
commonalty of the cities, where the weekly markets for 
the sale of cheese are regularly held, derive a consid- 
erable revenue from the small taxes for carriage and 
market-dues, to which every seller has to submit. 

The actual difference between the different kinds 
of cheese made in Holland is due in part to the form 
and size, and in part to the mode of making. Every sort 
has also a name derived from its peculiarities, or from 
the provinces or sections where it is made. The vari- 
eties of cheese best known in the markets in South 
Holland are the spice cheese, the sweet milk cheese, 
known also under the name of Gouda cheese, the so- 
called May cheese, the Council's cheese, the Jews' 
cheese, and the English cheese, made in many places. 

Further up in North Holland, the North Dutch sweet 
milk cheese, as it is commonly called in the province, 
known in the foreign markets as Edam cheese, is almost 
exclusively made. A kind of sweet milk cheese is made 
to a limited extent, called Commissions' cheese. In 
West Erieslancl, Utrecht, and South Holland, but few 
except sweet milk cheeses are made. 

In making cheese, the utmost cleanliness is most care- 
fully observed in all the operations. Whoever is 
intrusted with this work is required to display the 
utmost neatness in his whole person, as well as in the 
dairy-room ; and the vats and other utensils are daily 
scoured, washed with lye, and washed out in water and 
rinsed. The greatest attention is also paid to the trans- 
port of cheese to the weekly markets in the cities ; 
and in whatever way his load is carried, whether by 
wagon or in little boats, the person intrusted with it is 
always dressed in the so-called cheese-frock, a large white 
linen, which is used exclusively for this purpose. At 



MODE OF MAKING SPICE CHEESE. 331 

the market itself the cheese is laid on a four-cornered 
bench, two feet high, and exposed to view in a glitter- 
ing white linen cloth. But, in order to keep off all dust 
and impurities, a sail-cloth is raised over the whole, 
called the cheese-sail ; or it is covered with a sail-cloth 
covering, or sometimes with clean straw. But in other 
places it is customary to cany the cheese on wagons, 
in a white linen cloth, and covered with a woollen cover, 
ready packed for sale at the markets. 

Cheese-making in South Holland. — Spice cheese 
from skim-milk, and sweet milk or Goucla cheese, are 
the only kinds made to any extent in South Holland. 
Spice cheese, which derived its name from the addition 
of spices, is a firm, flat cheese, of about twenty pounds 
weight, brought to market generally colored red. It is 
three quarters of a foot thick, and one and a half feet in 
diameter, and is made as follows : 

The skim-milk is poured from the milk-pans into large 
tubs, and allowed to stand quiet till the cheesy matter 
has settled to the bottom, which requires, perhaps, half 
a day. Then the thin liquid on top is poured off very 
carefully, without stirring up the rest, through a strainer, 
into a large brass kettle, till it is full ; but the thicker 
substance at the bottom is left, and not put into the 
kettle. Under this kettle a fire is made, and the milk 
heated to a certain degree, regulated by the judgment 
of the dairymaid, sufficient to warm other cold milk, 
but it must not boil. The fire is made in the kitchen, 
or in the summer-house, or in some other room called 
the cheese-house. When the milk in the kettle is 
properly heated, it is poured into the tub of milk which 
has been heated and allowed to get cold. This tub is 
an upright vat, open at the top, of uniform diameter, 
bound with wooden hoops, and generally left of the nat- 
ural color of the wood ; scoured very bright, but some- 



332 



PREPARATION OF RENNET. 




times painted blue and the 
hoops black. It is seen in 
Fig. 120. 

When the quantity of milk 
is large, the dairyman puts in 
as much rennet as he thinks 
necessary to curdle the milk 
completely; but before and 
during the addition of the 
curd the whole is thoroughly 
P 5 stirred, and this stirring is 
continued until the stick or 
wooden ladle used for the pur- 
pose will stand erect in the curd. Then the dairy- 
woman works the curd with her hands till no further 
effect of the rennet in curding the milk is to be seen. 
It is called the cheese-curd. 

The rennet is prepared in the following manner : The 
maw or fourth stomach of a newly-killed sucking calf is 
taken from the other stomachs, carefully cleaned and 
cut into strips two inches wide, and then hung up in 
the chimney to be smoked and dried ; or, in hot weather 
in summer, it is hung up in the sun. Well smoked 
and dried strips will keep a very long time. When 
these are wanted for use, they are very carefully washed 
and purified, and then laid in the salt brine from the 
butter-barrels, or in lukewarm salt water to soak. The 
liquid is put into bottles and laid in the cellar. For 
curding milk as much is taken as is thought to be 
necessary, which cannot be determined without consid- 
erable practice and experience. If too little is taken, 
the cheese is not fat enough ; if more than the right 
quantity, it gives a disgusting acid taste. It is diffi- 
cult, almost impossible, to state exactly how much ren- 
net should be used with a certain quantity of milk, 



THE AGE OP RENNET. 



because this must be determined by its quality and its 
strength. Something like the following quantity is, 
however, taken : In a sixty-quart vat are placed about 
fifty rennets, prepared by drying, washing, and cutting, 
and a clear salt brine or butter-pickle of twenty to 
twenty-five degrees strength is added. In smaller quan- 
tities the proportion of rennet is about one and a half 
quarts to a rennet, or even less. This dried maw can be 
bought everywhere in packages of twenty-five pieces 
each. 

One great point in cheese-making is to have a suffi- 
cient quantity of good rennet in store ; for the older it 
grows the more powerful and effective it becomes, and 
the experienced cheese-makers, studying their own 
interests, know very well how difficult, hurtful, and 
time-wasting, it is to use fresh or new rennet. The asser- 
tion sometimes made that they use muriatic acid instead 
of rennet for curding the milk in Holland rests on an 
error, at least so far as the present methods are con- 
cerned. In earlier times, and for the poorest kinds, as 
the Jews' cheese, muriatic acid was more or less used. 

At the present time, 
the rennet for those 
cheeses is prepared 
from the stomachs of 
calves some days old. 
When the curd has 
sufficiently come, and 
has all been thorough- 
ly broken, the dairy- 
woman puts a four- 
cornered linen cloth, 
Fi e- 121 - called the cheese- 

cloth, which is used only for this purpose, and is 
only loosely woven, upon a small strong ladder laid 




334 



THE PRELIMINARY PRESSING. 



over the edge 1 .' of a low tub, and puts upon the 
cloth the prope- quantity of curd, then ties up the 
four corners of the cloth, and presses with her whole 
strength, that the milk may drain off. This work is 
also done by men who can apply great strength, Fig. 
121. The corners of the cheese-cloth are brought 
together, and the operator presses as hard as he can, in 
order to remove all the milk from the curd. But, as 
this is not possible with the hands alone, the whole is 
placed under a plank-press, and by this means as much 
of the milk as possible is pressed out. A strong cleat 
is nailed to a pillar in the wall at a convenient height from 
the floor, — say tAvo feet, — so that the tub, ladder, and 
cheese-cloth, can be put under the plank, when the 
plank is pressed down upon the cloth and curd. At 
the other end of the plank the operator sits and presses 




down with the whole weight of his body, as seen in Fig. 
122. The whey runs into the tub, and is generally used 



THE CHEESE-MOULDS. 



335 



as food for swine. The pressure is continued till no 
more runs off. 

After the complete removal of the whey, the curd 
remaining in the cloth has the form of the palms of the 
hands, and is pressed so firmly that it holds together 
when the cloth is removed. But it is again broken up, 
and put for this purpose into the breaking-tub, a low 
but broad, open tub, with wooden hoops, and made of 
strong staves, and is here worked over by the bare but 
cleanly- washed feet of the dairyman, or hired man. This 
working with the feet is continued, just as in kneading 
dough, till all is brought to a stiff paste. 

When it has come to this consistence the forming of 
the cheese begins. The dairyman has for this purpose 
a cheese-mould standing before him, 
and lays on the bottom a layer of 
cheese without spice, and this is 
called the blind layer. The cheese 
I tub or mould, Figs. 123 and 124, is 
used only for this first moulding. It 
is a wooden vat, made of staves from 
one to one and a half inches thick, 
and is nine and a half to tAvelve and a half inches in 
diameter, and about ten inches high, bound at the 
bottom and top with stout hoops. 
The bottom of oak-wood, put in 
very carefully, is pierced with holes 
for letting off any moisture that may 
remain in the Cheese. On the top of 
the tub a cover is exactly fitted, to 
sink down upon the cheese when 
the pressure is applied. This cover 
is of oak, one and a half inches thick, and has a cross- 
piece three and a half inches thick, which serves as a 
handle. 





336 THE FORM OF THE CHEESE- PRESS. 

The first layer of cheese is quite firmly pressed clown 
or trodden into the mould with the hands or feet, and 
then follows a layer of curd mixed with spices. The 
mixture is made best by putting as much of the pasty 
curd from the vat into a tub as will form one layer in 
the mould. Over this the spice is strewn, caraway and 
some pounded cloves, and the mass is then worked over, 
when it is placed as a new layer into the mould. Upon 
the second layer some coarsely-pounded cloves are 
generally scattered, or they are stuck whole over the 
surface. After that the second layer is pressed in like 
the first, and the third follows, and so on till the mould 
is full. On the uppermost and firmly pressed layer is 
laid the cover. The mould thus carefully filled is now 
brought under a press, which, partly on account of its 
length, is called the "long-press," and sometimes the 
" first " or " cheese press," because the cheese first 
comes under it. This press is seen in Fig. 125. It 




Tig. 125. 

stands on four short legs, and consists of upright beams 
fixed upon a platform, and a long beam, acting as a lever, 
with one end fastened by a rivet or bolt. The other 
end is loaded with weights to any desirable extent, as 
appears in the cut. The power of the press may also 
be increased or diminished by shifting the end of the 
lever to the lower or upper hole. 



THE EFFECT OF GREAT PRESSURE. 



337 



When the mould is put under the press it is set into 
a shallow, four-cornered wooden box or pan on the foot- 
board. This pan is furnished with grooves at the side, 
through which the whey can escape. The pressure may- 
still further be increased by putting a block on the lid 
of the mould, as appears in the press. It is this power- 
ful pressure which gives the cheese the high quality for 
which it is distinguished above others. The whey still 
remaining in the curd runs off through the holes in the 
bottom of the mould, when the strong pressure is 
applied, into the pan, and is caught in another pan which 
sets under the press. 

When the cheese has stood two hours under the 
press, it is taken from the mould, surrounded by a clean 
linen cloth, and again brought under the press. The 
change of cloth is repeated once or twice after two or 




338 SALTING IN THE TROUGH. 

three hours' pressing, and the cheese is left standing in 
the press over night. The next morning the cheese is 
brought under another press, under which it is subjected 
to still more powerful pressure, and receives its peculiar 
form. This press is seen in Fig. 126, and consists of a 
frame resting on four strong uprights, forming a kind 
of firm table. On the plate of the table lie four or six 
rollers, whose ends at both sides pass through holes 
in the standard pieces, and serve merely to assist in 
taking out the cheese. The pressure is obtained by 
heavy weights let down and raised by a kind of wind- 
lass fixed in two perpendic- 

aim m^ ular standards. The cheese 

H 




as it comes under this press 
is not in the mould, but is 
simply laid in a pan, as seen 
in Fig. 127. Before the pressure begins, however, the 
stamp or mark of the manufacturer, a key, a letter, 
etc., in iron, is laid upon the cheese, and upon that a 
square board. The pan and weight are lowered, so 
that the pressure begins and the stamp is impressed on 
the cheese, which becomes flatter, smoother, and firmer, 
than before. The cheese is left under this press till it 
gets its final form, and the pressure in the pan is 
increased or diminished, according to circumstances. 

"When the cheese, after being pressed in both ma- 
chines, has received its final form, it is placed in a long 
trough, called the salt-trough, which is generally in the 
cow-room behind the cow-stands. It has been already 
said that the cow-stall is used as a cheese-room in sum- 
mer, when the cows are out to pasture. In this trough, 
a space deep and wide enough for the diameter of the 
cheese, from four to six cheeses can be laid. In the 
salt-trough the cheeses are salted as long and as thor- 
oughly as is necessary. Observation and experience are 



COLORING. — SWEET MILK CHEESE. 339 

needed here to get the right quantity of salt and the 
right time, that the cheese may receive a suitably firm 
crust or rind. 

When the cheese in the salt-trough is sufficiently 
salted, it is put over a large tub, where it is properly 
washed in cold, fresh water, trimmed with a cheese-knife, 
and colored. For coloring, annatto boiled in water with 
some potash is used. After the coloring the cheese is 
rubbed with the beistings, or first milk of a cow newly- 
calved. The spice cheese gets its red color and firm, 
smooth rind in the coloring and washing in the beist- 
ings ; and this distinguishes it from other sorts. 

The colored cheeses are now laid upon shelves made 
for the purpose in the cow-stall used as a cheese-room, 
and turned daily till properly dried. When dry they 
are laid for sale in a cheese or store room. This room 
is connected with the house, or separated from the 
other rooms only by a thin board partition. This room, 
as well as the cow-stall, is kept extraordinarily clean, — 
scoured and aired, and used for nothing but the keeping 
of cheese. 

Fig. 128 represents the cow-stall used as a cheese- 
room, in which the salt-trough is seen, and the dairyman 
and dairy-woman are occupied in turning and trimming 
the cheese. 

Manufacture of Sweet Milk Cheese in South 
Holland. — The best kind of sweet milk cheese is 
made in the vicinity of the city of Gouda, and on the 
gray and Dutch Yssel, from which circumstance it is 
often known by the name of Gouda cheese. 

The making of this cheese is less difficult than that 
of spice cheese, but requires more attention and care, 
because the rich sweet milk is used for it. It is as fol- 
lows : The milk as it comes fresh from the cow is 
strained through a hair-strainer into a large wooden vat 



340 



THE CHEESE -ROOM. 



or tub, or, in some large dairies, into a copper kettle, 
which stands on a peculiar tray or bench. This tray is 
made of four to five inch posts, and its size is gov- 




erned by the quantity of milk of the tubs to be used ; 
but these tubs generally hold from one hundred to one 
hundred and fifty cans. The milk is immediately set 
with the requisite quantity of rennet, usually one quar- 
ter of a can to one hundred cans of milk ; and if it does 
not "come" in a quarter of an hour, more rennet is 
added. 

When it has properly curdled, it is stirred in all direc- 
tions with a wooden ladle three or four times over, and 



HOT AND COLD WATER. 341 

somewhat broken up, when it is allowed to stand three 
or four minutes at rest. It is then gently and constantly 
stirred again, with the ladle or the hands, and broken. 
By too active stirring one gets more whey than cheese, 
and very quick stirring must be avoided. The whey is 
then allowed to stand some time, by which the curdled 
cheese particles collect, and the whey appears on the 
surface, and can be taken off and poured into a tub 
made for the purpose. To the mass still remaining in 
the kettle, which is now almost all cheesy matter, as 
much hot water is added as is sufficient to warm it prop- 
erly. The addition of hot water must be made with 
discretion, however, and must not exceed a certain 
amount, which can be learned only by practice. The 
more we add, the drier will the cheese become after a 
while ; and, though it may keep the better, and be better 
for transportation, the taste is unquestionably injured by 
it. The cold-made cheese is far more liable to injury 
from keeping, but is much richer and more palatable, 
on which account the best is generally eaten fresh. The 
quantity of hot water to be added for warming the milk 
must therefore be determined somewhat by the disposi- 
tion to be made of the cheese. 

When the hot water has stood, say half an hour, on 
the curd, it is taken off and poured into the whey. The 
curd is now properly brought together by the hands or 
a ladle, and again thoroughly worked and broken. After 
standing at rest a short time, the water and whey are 
turned off again, as completely as possible, in the whey- 
tub. The mass of curd still remaining in the vat, now 
called wrongel, is cut up into small pieces, which are 
very carefully worked over, and then pressed into the 
wooden cheese-mould. In order to get a very fine sep- 
aration of the curd, only a small quantity is taken at once 
from the vat, which is rubbed in the hands, and then 
29* 



342 DETAILS OF PRESSING. 

pressed into the mould till it is quite full. The cheese- 
mould is in the form of a bowl, made of willow wood, 
with its lower part pierced with holes, so that the whey 
can run off when the pressure is applied. The cheese 
now formed is taken out carefully, rubbed with the 
hands, and still further worked in the cheese-tub, and 
again very firmly pressed into the mould with the hands. 
To be able to press it into the mould with greater 
power, an implement called the presser is used. It con- 
sists of a short stick, with a kind of handle or cross- 
piece on the upper end. On the lower end a disc is 
fixed which fits into the cheese-mould. In using the 
instrument, the disc is placed on the cheese to be pressed 
into the mould, the handle or cross-piece is placed 
against the chest or shoulders, and the operator presses 
down at the same time with his hands, thrusting the 
disc as deeply as possible into the cheese-moulcl. When 
pressed enough on one side, it is turned round in the 
mould, bringing the other side up, and the pressure is 
again applied as strongly as possible. For saving the 
whey in cheese-pressing, the mould is set into a pan only 
a little larger than the mould itself, which catches the 
whey running out from the mould. When the cheese 
in the mould is properly pressed by hand, the cover is 
put upon the mould, which is loaded gradually, in order 
to bring down the greatest possible pressure. The 
weight or pressure is greater or less according to the 
size of the cheese ; yet during the pressure the cheese 
must be frequently turned, that it may get the right form. 
The gradual increase of the pressure goes on for 
twenty-four hours, when the cheese is taken from the 
mould to be laid in a tub of salt-brine in the cellar ; the 
cellar must be kept cool. The cheese remains in the 
brine twenty-four hours, but is turned once in that time. 
It is then taken out and put upon a table, the surface 



THE LIGHT AND AIR. 343 

of which is inclined, the legs of one end being longer 
than those of the other. On both sides of the inclined 
table run grooves in the direction of the inclination of 
the surface, which unite at the lower end, and serve as a 
way of escape for the brine or pickle into a tub below. 
Here the cheese is rubbed with salt, and a handful of 
salt is scattered over the top, when it is left standing 
for some time " in the salt." If one side was rubbed 
in the morning, it is turned at evening ; and the other 
side is served in the same manner as the first. A cheese 
of from fifteen to sixteen pounds remains standing thus 
four or five days, according to the temperature. If the 
heat is great, it must stand the longer in the salt. "When 
sufficiently salted, it is washed off in hot water, and taken 
to the cheese-room, where it is daily turned on dry, clean 
shelves. If it is still greasy or dauby on the outside, 
it is still further washed in water, and dried off with a 
coarse linen towel. 

The cheese-room is generally kept closed by day to 
keep out the light and sun, which are not good for 
cheese. It is opened in the morning and evening to let 
in a little cooling air ; yet a strong breeze is avoided by 
opening all the doors and windows at the same time, 
for the cheese will crack and break open if exposed to it. 

Sweet milk cheese is fit for use at the age of four 
weeks. Strongly salted cheese does not ripen up so 
quickly as that which is salted less ; but, if it takes 
longer, the loss is less, and, on that account, it is pre- 
ferred for sending off to less salted cheese, which, on 
the other hand, is richer, and has a little better taste. 
In the daily turning of the cheese, great care is taken 
to observe any little specks in it where the mites con- 
ceal themselves. As soon as such places are discovered, 
a hole is dug out with a knife as deep as they extend 
into the cheese. The holes are left open till the next 



344 EFFECT OF GREAT HEAT. 

day, when, if no more mites appear, they are stopped 
up with other cheese. But, if they still appear, some 
pounded pepper is put into the holes, which destroys 
them. Rotten or moist spots on the cheese are treated 
in the same way, but very deep holes have to be made 
into the cheese, and it is best to cover them with 
buckwheat-meal, when they dry up very quickly. 

In very hot weather it sometimes happens that the 
cheese swells up and begins to ferment. Then it is laid 
on the cleanly-scoured pavement of the cheese-room, 
where it is cooler ; or, as many do, pierced pretty deeply 
with holes with a knitting-needle, which often helps it. 
With the decrease of the great heat of the sun, the 
swelling also ceases. The cheese is not injured except 
in appearance, the taste being improved. But, if the 
swelling is very considerable, it makes the cheese hol- 
low. If the milk and cheese dishes are not very cleanly 
washed and rinsed out, the cheese gets a wrinkled crust, 
and begins to ferment. 

Sweet milk cheese, three or four months old, is turned 
and aired only once a week in dry weather. Many 
cheese-makers also sprinkle the cheeses daily, for a week 
or two after they are fourteen days old, with beer and 
vinegar, or with vinegar in which saffron has been 
extracted, by which it gets not only a beautiful yellow 
color, but is also protected from flies. 

The Use of the Whey of Sweet Milk Cheese. — 
On what remains of the milk devoted to the making of 
sweet milk cheese in the manner above described, or the 
whey which runs off in the pressing of the cheese, 
there forms, after it has stood a few days, a fine creamy 
skin, which is carefully taken off with a wooden spoon, 
put in a clean jar, and stirred from time to time. This 
cream is collected to make butter, and it can be done 
once a week. This butter-whey is healthful and good, 



MAY CHEESE. — NEW MILK'S CHEESE. 345 

to be sure ; but, on the whole, is not so fine and delicate 
flavored as good cream butter, and on this account is 
cheaper. 

The butter-rnilk which conies from the churning of 
the cream of whey is a good food for swine. They 
greatly relish it. 

Whey is also sold as a beverage, and is called " sweet 
whey." When fresh and untainted, it is quite an agree- 
able drink, very cooling, and good for the health in 
spring, purifying the blood, though somewhat purgative 
in its effect on the kidneys. Later in summer, when the 
heat is very great, whey is thought to be rather injuri- 
ous to the health than otherwise. It is then used 
exclusively for swine. 

May Cheese. — In the early part of summer, when 
the grass is best, sweet milk cheese is made in precisely 
the same way as that described, yet of smaller size and 
less weight. This is called May cheese, and is designed 
for immediate use or sale when ripe, as it will not keep, 
and easily loses its fine flavor. 

Jews' Cheese. — Another kind of sweet milk cheese 
is the Jews' cheese. It differs from common sweet milk 
cheese in its form, which is flatter and thinner, and 
partly in being less salted, and of a much looser texture. 
It is but little made ; but some dairies are devoted to it. 

Council's Cheese. — This is made as the common 
sweet milk cheese, only in much smaller moulds. It 
has also a peculiar color. It is allowed to get rather 
old before it is relished, and is then mostly given away. 

New Milk's Cheese. — This is made in winter, when 
the cows are in the stall. It is not so good as grass 
cheese, which is made in summer, when the cows are at 
pasture, and is less relished, and brings a lower price. 
When the cows are brought to the barn late in the fall, 
it can be made of very good quality for a few days ; 



346 CHEESE-MAKING IN NORTH HOLLAND. 

but the longer the cow remains in the stall the more 
the milk loses its good quality for cheese, on which 
account but few of the larger dairies make cheese at all 
in winter. 

To make it appear to buyers more like grass-made 
cheese, and to be able to sell it, it is colored with the 
same material, and it is then often very difficult to dis- 
tinguish it,, since great pains is taken to give the two 
kinds the same form, hardness of rind, etc. The dairy- 
men have less to do with this deception than the deal- 
ers. Hay cheese is rather better in quality for coloring, 
since it gains in appearance and taste ; but it never can 
equal grass-made cheese in fine qualities. 

Cheese-making in North Holland. • — ■ In the province 
of North Holland sweet milk cheese is made almost 
exclusively. From ancient times this particular branch 
of farming has been carried to great extent ; but it has 
especially grown in importance since the province 
gained a firm soil by artificial draining. At the present 
time North Holland is the head-quarters of the cheese- 
trade ) and it is easily explained in the fact that no 
other province has more or better cattle. The manu- 
facture of cheese is almost the only object of keeping 
cattle, and the North Dutch dairy farmer applies him- 
self with the greatest possible zeal to the most careful 
modes of cheese-making, in order to keep up the ancient 
reputation of his cheeses, both in the domestic and 
foreign markets, and to secure to himself all of the 
advantages springing from it. 

The quantity of cheese which is weekly sold in the 
markets of Alkmaar, Hoorn, Edam, Purmerend, Meden- 
blik, Enkhuizen, etc., is enormous. We cite Alkmaar 
alone as an example, where on the city scales there were 
weighed no less than 23,859,258 Netherlandish pounds 
(536,834,830 pounds, American), from 1758 to 1830. 



NORTH DUTCH CHEESE. 347 

Since that time the manufacture has increased, so that 
from three to four million Netherland pounds are 
annually brought to the Alkmaar market. But, besides 
this, a large quantity of cheese does not come into the 
market, but is sold at the dairy without passing through 
the hands of the traders, and never comes to the city 
scales. 

In 1843 there were sold in the North Dutch cheese- 
markets 22,385,812 pounds, to say nothing of the large 
quantity sold directly from the dairy. It is easy to 
see, therefore, how important and extensive an interest 
the manufacture of cheese has become for this province. 
Of the twenty-two million pounds annually exported, 
the value may be estimated as at least three million 
Dutch guilders. The price and value of the cheese 
vary, of course, with the markets. 

The North Dutch cheese differs somewhat in quality 
and money value, according to the section where it is 
made ; but in general that made in the region about 
Hoorn is considered the best, as is very natural, since 
in that vicinity are to be found the finest meadows and 
pastures in the province. The villages of Ooster- 
blokker, Westerwoude, Hoogecarspel, and Twisk, are 
distinguished above all others ; and so are the pastures 
of Beemster, Purmer, and Schermer, almost equally so. 

The Dutch cheese-maker reckons twelve Nether- 
land cans of milk to a pound — two and a quarter 
pounds American — of cheese, according to which a 
cow in three hundred days would give from eighteen 
hundred to two thousand cans of milk, or usually from 
one hundred and fifty to one hundred and seventy-five 
Netherland pounds of cheese, in a year. 

The Utensils used in Cheese-making in North Hol- 
land are nearly the same as those already described for 
saving the milk for butter, and those used in the 



348 VARIETIES OF NORTH DUTCH CHEESE. 

various processes of cheese-making in South Holland. 
They are modified to some extent, to be sure, by the 
taste, the pride, the wealth, or the caprice, of each dairy- 
man. Many of them are painted, wholly or in part, in 
oil colors, for the sake of durability as well as cleanli- 
ness, on which the North Dutch dairyman lays great 
stress. They do not require much capital. 

Variety of North Dutch Cheeses, and the Trade 
in them. — The North Dutch cheese is called sweet 
milk cheese, and also, pretty commonly, white cheese, 
where it is made ; but in Germany it is called Edamer, 
less because the best is made in the vicinity of this 
city than because the largest trade in it is carried on 
there. 

All sweet milk cheese has not the same weight, 
form, and size. Many kinds of it come into the market 
under different names ; as, for example, large cheese 
of 20 to 24 pounds (45 to 54 pounds), Malbollen of 
IQ pounds (36 pounds), medium of 10 to 12 pounds (22 
to 27 pounds), Commission's of 6 or 7 pounds (14 to 16 
pounds), and little ones of 4 pounds (9 pounds), to which 
belong the Jews' cheese. Besides this, the making of 
English cheese is carried on. Malbollen is but little made. 
It is of about twenty pounds weight. Fifty years ago 
large quantities of it came into market, and were sold 
mostly in North Brabant and the Rhine provinces. Of 
the medium cheese the manufacture is pretty extensive 
at the present time, and it is sold to go to North Brabant 
chiefly. The price of these sorts is more frequently 
fluctuating than that of the smaller ones ; but less so 
than that of Commission's cheese, which is not much 
made. These varieties in former years were very profit- 
able, since they were made with little labor, being light 
and spongy from slight pressing and little salting, and 
were sold green. 



MAKING OP EDAM CHEESE. 349 

Dairy industry is now chiefly devoted to making 
the varieties most known and sought for in Germany, 
the Edam small sweet milk cheeses, which are sent in 
enormous quantities to all parts of the world. There 
are two varieties of Edam cheese in the market, one 
with a white, the other with a red rind. The latter is 
firm, more of a yellowish color inside, and colored out- 
side. The coloring matter is prepared in France for 
this special purpose. By this treatment the cheese is 
better adapted to transportation. The early red rind 
cheese is the finest and best. It is made in spring from 
milk fresh and warm from cows just turned to pasture, 
and is exported, mostly to Italy, Spain, and America. 
That made later in summer is not so good, and goes to 
France ; the red rind, made still later in the fall, goes 
to England and Brabant. Cheese that is injured, or 
does not keep well, is sold, mostly in Hamburg and 
Brabant. 

Making of Edam Cheese. — The Edam is a rich sweet 
milk cheese, that is made from fresh, unskimmed milk. 
The milk, while still warm from the cow, is poured into 
a large tub or a kettle through the strainer. In cold 
weather, when it has cooled off in standing in the air, 
it is warmed to a proper degree by adding milk heated 
by the fire. The rennet is then added. This is pre- 
pared in the following manner: The maw of the nursing- 
calf, cut into long strips, is soaked for twenty-four 
hours in sweet whey, when it is made lukewarm over 
a slow fire, whey and all, and three times the quantity 
of cheese-brine, or solution of the salt of the cheese, 
added. The mass is then allowed to stand four days, 
when it is fit for use. An exact determination of the 
quantity of rennet to be used cannot well be given, 
since the quantity depends on the quality ; but usually 
about two hundred cans of milk to one fifth of a can 
30 



350 THE RENNET. — SETTLING. 

of rennet is the proportion, taking more or less, accord- 
ing to the strength of the rennet. 

The milk in the tub to which the rennet has been 
added is covered over and allowed to stand till it is 
curdled, or become hard, which usually requires a 
quarter of an hour. The curdled milk is then called 
" glib." It is now slowly but regularly stirred, with a 
shallow, long-handled cheese-spoon, in all directions. 

Some cheese-makers treat the milk in the following 
manner : They stir the milk, thrusting an inverted 
cheese-ladle into the curdling mass every two or three 
minutes after adding the rennet, by which the curdling 
is much hastened. Now they move the ladle or cheese- 
stick three or four times with considerable force through 
the thickening milk, and lay it, inverted, on the surface 
of the milk, covering the vat for ten or twelve minutes, 
when the mass is again set in motion, and then again 
allowed to stand. By this means the cheese particles 
settle to the bottom, and the whey rises to the top. 

When, after these alternate stirrings and rest of the 
curdling milk, the solid particles have settled, and the 
whey is collected on top, the latter is turned off, as care- 
fully as possible, into the whey-tub. In order the better 
to settle the cheesy parts, and to cause the whe} r to come 
up, the cheese-stick is loaded with weights or stones, by 
which the whey is separated in the pressure upon the 
curd. Some minutes after, the whey is again turned 
off, the whole mass is properly stirred, and the curd is 
collected with the cheese-stick and worked with the 
hands, and the whey is again carefully turned off. The 
curd, now become thick, is taken out of the vat, piece 
by piece, and broken with the hands as finely as pos- 
sible, in order to fill as much into the cheese-moulds as 
will just make a cheese. The moulds are set into the 
cheese-vat, and the curd is worked and pressed closely in 



TIME OF PRESSING. 351 

with the hand, to remove the whey as much as possible. 
The cheese is then taken out of the mould, and again very 
finely crumbled in the vat, and, after the whey is again 
turned off through the strainer, is pressed the second 
time into the mould, so that it is as full of cheese as it 
can possibly be. It is then turned in the mould so 
that the upper side goes down, when it is again firmly 
pressed in. The turning is repeated several times. 

In the making of large and medium cheeses the 
presser is used, while space left empty by the press- 
ure is again filled with curd, so that the mould is always 
full, and the cheese gets its requisite size. In the 
smaller or four-pound cheeses, the hands alone are used 
for this pressing into the mould. The mould, now 
pressed full, is put into a tub, properly washed in 
whey, and cleansed of all remaining fat. By the wash- 
ing and smoothing the cheese must get a glossy and 
smooth rind. After this is done, the cheese is again 
taken out of the mould, wrapped in a clean linen cloth, 
put in again, and covered over and brought under the 
press, that it may become harder and firmer, and that 
the whey may run off. 

In hot weather the cheese is left under the press five 
hours, from nine in the morning till two in the after- 
noon; but, if it is cool, it must stand longer. There are 
several different objects in view in deciding the con- 
tinuance of the pressure. Many think two or three 
hours sufficient, whilst others press five hours. Cheese 
designed for export is pressed longer, or twelve hours. 

It takes from three to four hours, usually, from the 
pouring in of the milk to the bringing of the cheese 
under the press ; but it can be clone in two or two and 
a half hours without injuring the cheese. 

After the first pressing is finished, the cheese is put 
into another mould, rounder than the first, and with 



352 PRACTICAL DETAILS. 

only one hole in the bottom, to lie in the salt. In many 
places a long trough is used, in which several such 
moulds are placed to be salted at the same time; and 
for this either dry salt or pickle (brine, or salt in solu- 
tion) is used. The pickle is most commonly used, and 
is thought best. When one side of the cheese has laid 
some hours in the brine, it is turned, and the other side 
is also salted. After a while it is salted or turned in 
the brine but once a day. Small four-pound cheeses 
remain nine days in hot weather, and in cold ten or 
twelve days, in the salt ; medium ones of ten to twelve 
pounds must lie at least three weeks. In very hot 
weather they are often salted twice a day. The moulds 
with the salted cheese are placed, several together, into 
the cheese-vat where the brine is, or on a salting-tray 
where the brine is collected in a tub beneath. After 
being finally salted, they are washed perfectly clean 
with water or warm whey. Many put their cheeses 
from the brine immediately in a kettle of hot whey for 
some minutes, and wash them in it. All unevenness or 
roughness got in pressing in the mould is now scraped 
off with a knife. 

After the washing, the cheeses are again perfectly 
dried, and laid on the shelves in the cheese-room, where 
they are daily turned, and remain from two to four, and 
even five weeks. The cheese is now salable ; but before 
it is packed or delivered it is laid for some hours to 
soak in pure, cold spring or well water, the smallest 
for three hours, the medium four, and the largest five 
hours. The cheese is then well cleaned with the cheese- 
brush, laid on the shelf in the store-room, and turned a 
week or more, daily. But, in order to give them a fine 
yellow color, in damp weather, especially, the poorer 
ones are, by many dairymen, laid a good ways apart, 
and sprinkled or washed daily with new beer. When 



COLOR OP EDAM CHEESE. 353 

the cheese is to be sold, it is properly washed still again 
in hot whey, and rubbed with a woolen cloth a day 
before sending to market, with hot or cold linseed-oil, 
by which the outside of the cheese gets a fine glow ; 
but it must be rubbed till no fat or oil is to be felt. 

The Red Color of Edam Cheese. — After the dairy- 
man has sold his cheese to the merchant, it is colored 
by him quite red. It will not be uninteresting to many 
readers to know some of the details of this peculiar 
color. 

Edam cheese is colored with what is called tournesol, 
which is extracted from a plant (Croton tinctorium). 
This is an annual, which grows wild in France, in great 
abundance, in the vicinity of Montpelier, in Langue- 
doc ; and around Aix, in Provence, large commons are 
sown with it. The seed is sown in March and April. 
From a white and straight tap root, it sends up a stalk 
something like six inches high, which divides into many 
branches. The leaves have very long stems, of a pale 
green color. The flower-stalks spring up from between 
the branches, and bear flowers in fan-shaped clusters. 
The vegetation of the plant continues four months. 

The preparation of the tournesol is as follows : The 
plants are collected late in summer, the roots thrown 
away, and the other parts taken to a mill, where they 
are ground, and the juice pressed out. Into this juice 
the rags of old hempen cloth are dipped till they 
are soaked full, when they are hung up to dry in the 
sun. When they are dry they are laid on a tray over 
a tub filled with urine, in which carbonate of lime has 
been dissolved, so that the edges hang over the rim of 
the tub on which they rest. The vapor from the solu- 
tion of lime must penetrate the rags, and this gives 
them a violet color, when they are taken off and dried 
again, to be replaced till they are fully colored. 
30* 23 



354 USE OF THE WHEY. 

The tournesol rags have become an article of com- 
merce, for which France receives annually from Holland 
from 100,000 to 200,000 guilders (from $38,000 to 
$76,000). 

To give the Edam cheeses the red rind, they are 
rubbed with these tournesol rags, from which they get 
the dark violet color ; and after they are dried they are 
again rubbed, which gives them a glowing red. 

It is an excellent peculiarity of the tournesol rags 
that they not only impart the color to Edam cheese, to 
which people abroad are so accustomed, but that they 
keep the insects from the cheese, whilst the coloring- 
matter does riot penetrate inside, but remains on the 
rind. Substitutes for it have been repeatedly sought, 
but not found; nor have the attempts made to grow the 
plant in Holland proved successful. 

Use of the Whey of the Nokth Dutch Sweet Milk 
Cheese. — The whey obtained in making cheese in 
North Holland is collected in large tubs. The sweet, 
agreeable taste of the whey is soon lost when it is set 
to obtain the fatty particles still remaining in it. The 
cream which forms on it is daily taken off with a skim- 
mer, put into a cream-pot, and when it is collected in 
sufficient quantity it is made into whey butter. 



CHAPTER XII. 

LETTER TO A DAIRY-WOMAN. 

In the earlier chapters of this work I have spoken 
to farmers and dairymen of the selection, care, and 
management, of dairy stock. The seventh, eighth, and 
ninth chapters relate more especially to your depart- 
ment, and on your application and skill will depend 
chiefly the successful result of the dairy establishment. 
Of what avail are costly barns, well-selected cows, and 
judicious feeding, in the butter and cheese dairy, if the 
products are to be depreciated in value by the imper- 
fect modes of preparing them for the market, where the 
final judgment is passed upon them, and where it is 
expected the price will be according to their value ? 

You have, doubtless, had a much greater practical 
knowledge and experience of the details of dairy 
management than I have. For this practice and experi- 
ence I have the utmost respect ; but I have not spoken 
without a knowledge of the subject. I have made many 
a cheese, and many a pound of butter, while my ob- 
servations have extended over all the most important 
dairy districts of the country, and have not been limited 
to the practices of any one section, which, however 
good in themselves, may not be the best. I trust, there- 
fore, you will excuse me for calling your attention to the 
more important points to which I have alluded ; and, if 
my conclusions happen to differ from your own, in any 



356 A DRUG IN THE MARKET. 

respect, that you will not discard them as worthless, 
without first bringing them to the test of careful 
experiment, when I trust they will be found correct. 

I have not written to establish any favorite theory, 
but simply to inculcate truth, and to aid in developing 
a most important branch of American industry, which, 
either directly or indirectly, involves the investment 
of a vast amount of capital, the aggregate profits of 
which depend so largely on your judgment and skill. 

I need not remind you that any addition, however 
small, to the market value of each pound of butter or 
cheese, will largely increase the annual income of your 
establishment. Nor need I remind you that these arti- 
cles are generally the last of either the luxuries or 
the necessaries of life in which city customers are will- 
ing to economize. They must and will have a good 
article, and are ready to pay for it in proportion to its 
goodness ; or, if they desire to economize in butter, it 
will be in the quantity rather than the quality. 

Poor butter is a drug in the market. Nobody wants 
it, and the dealer often finds it difficult to get it off his 
hands, when a delicate and finely -flavored article attracts 
attention and secures a ready sale. Some say that poor 
butter will do for cooking. But a good steak or mutton- 
chop is too expensive to allow any one to spoil it by the 
use of a poor quality of butter ; and good pastry-cooks 
will tell you that cakes and pies cannot be made without 
good sweet butter, and plenty of it. These dishes rel- 
ish too well, when properly cooked with nice butter, for 
any one to tolerate the use of poor butter in them. 

On page 220 and elsewhere, I have dwelt on the 
necessity of extreme cleanliness in all the operations 
of the dairy ; and this is the basis and fundamental prin- 
ciple of your business. I would not suppose, for a 
moment, that you are lacking in this respect. The 



CARE AND NEATNESS. 357 

enormous quantities of disgusting, streaky, and tallow- 
like butter that are daily thrust upon the seaboard 
markets must be due to the carelessness and negligence 
of heedless men, to exposure to sun and rain, to bad 
packing, and to delays in transportation. Many of these 
evils you may not be able to remove, since you cannot 
follow the article to the market, and see that it arrives 
safely and untainted. But you can take greater pains, 
perhaps, in some of the preliminary processes of 
making, and produce an article that will not be so liable 
to injure from keeping and transportation ; and then, if 
fault is to be found, it does not rest with you. 

I will not suggest the possibility that your ideas of 
cleanliness and neatness may be at fault ; and that what 
may seem an excess of nicety and scrubbing to you 
may appear to be almost slovenliness to some others, 
whose butter receives the highest price in the market, 
and always finds the readiest sale. Permit me, however, 
to refer you to pages 300, 324, and 325, where a detailed 
account is given of the washings in water and washings 
in alkali ; of the scrubbings, and the scourings, and the 
scaldings, and the rinsings, which the neat and tidy 
Dutch dairy-women give all the utensils of the dairy, 
from the pails to the firkins and the casks, and also to 
their extreme carefulness that no infectious odor rises 
from the surroundings. I think you will see that it is 
a physical impossibility that any taint can affect the at- 
mosphere or the utensils of such a dairy, and that many 
of the details of their practice may be worthy of imita- 
tion in our American dairies. 

And here allow me to suggest that, though we may 
not approve of the general management in any partic- 
ular section, or any particular dairy, it is rare that there 
is not something in the practice of that section that is 
really valuable and worthy of imitation. 



358 LETTEE TO A DAIRY-WOMAN. 

On pages 231 and 234 I have called your attention to 
the use of the sponge and clean cloth for absorbing 
and removing the butter-milk in the most thorough man- 
ner ; this I regard as of great importance. 

I have stated on page 234 that, under ordinarily favor- 
able circumstances, from twelve to eighteen hours will 
be sufficient to raise the cream ; and that I do not believe 
it should stand over twenty-four hours under any cir- 
cumstances. This, I am aware, is very different from 
the general practice over the country. But, if you 
will make the experiment in the most careful manner, 
setting the pans in a good, airy place, and not upon the 
cellar bottom, I think you will soon agree with me that 
all you get, after twelve or eighteen hours, under the 
best circumstances, or at most after twenty-four hours, 
will detract from the quality and injure the fine and 
delicate aroma and agreeable taste of the butter to a 
greater extent than you are aware of. The cream which 
rises from milk set on the cellar bottom acquires an 
acrid taste, and can neither produce butter of so fine 
a quality or so agreeable to the palate as that which 
rises from milk set on shelves from six to eight feet 
high, around which there is a full and free circulation of 
pure air. The latter is sweeter, and appears in much 
larger quantities in the same time than the former. 

If, therefore, you devote your attention to the making 
of butter to sell fresh in the market, and desire to 
obtain a reputation which shall aid and secure the quick- 
est sale and the highest price, you will use cream that 
rises first, and that does not stand too long on the milk. 
You will churn it properly and patiently, and not with 
too great haste. You will work it so thoroughly and 
completely with the butter-worker, and the sponge and 
cloth, as to remove every particle of butter-milk, never 
allowing your own or any other hands to touch it. You 



THE TASTE AND THE EYE. 359 

will keep it at a proper temperature when making, and 
after it is made, by the judicious use of ice, and avoid 
exposing it to the bad odors of a musty cellar. You 
will discard the use of artificial coloring or flavoring mat- 
ter, and take the utmost care in every process of mak- 
ing. You will stamp your butter tastefully with some 
mould which can be recognized in the market as yours ; 
as, for instance, your initials, or some form or figure 
which will most please the eye and the taste of the 
customer. You will send it in boxes so perfectly pre- 
pared and cleansed as to impart no taste of wood to the 
butter. If all these things receive due attention, my 
word for it, the initials or form which you adopt will 
be inquired after, and you will always find a ready and 
a willing purchaser at the highest market price. 

But, if you are differently situated, and it becomes 
necessary to pack and sell as firkin-butter, let me sug- 
gest the necessity of an equal degree of nicety and 
care in preparation, and that you insist, as one of your 
rights, that the article be packed in the best of oak- 
wood firkins, thoroughly prepared after the manner of 
the Dutch, as stated on page 325. A greater attention 
to these points would make the butter thus packed 
worth several cents a pound more when it arrives in 
the market than it ordinarily is. Indeed, the manner 
in which it not unfrequently comes to market is a dis- 
grace to those who packed it ; and it cannot be that 
such specimens were ever put up by the hands of a 
dairy-woman. I have often seen what was bought for 
butter open so marbled, streaked, and rancid, that it was 
scarcely fit to use on the wheels of a carriage. 

If you adopt the course which I have recommended 
in regard to skimming, you will have a large quantity 
of sweet skimmed milk, far better than it would be if 
allowed to stand thirty-six or forty-eight hours, as is the 



360 EEAPING THE ADVANTAGE. 

custom with many. This is too valuable to waste, 
and it is my opinion that you can use it to far greater 
profit than to allow it to be fed to swine. There can 
be no question, I think, that cheese-making should be 
carried on at the same time with the making of butter, 
in small and medium-sized dairies. You have seen, 
in Chapter XI., that some of the best cheese of Hol- 
land is made of sweet skim-milk. The reputation of 
Parmesan — a skim-milk cheese of Italy, page 266 — is 
world-wide, and it commands a high price and ready 
sale. The mode of making these varieties has been 
described in detail in the ninth and eleventh chapters ; 
and you can imitate them, or, perhaps, improve upon 
them, and thus turn the skim-milk to a very profitable 
account, if it is sweet and good. You will find, if you 
adopt this system, that your butter will be improved, and 
that, without any great amount of extra labor, you will 
make a large quantity of very good cheese, and thus 
add largely to the profit of your establishment, and to 
the comfort and prosperity of your family. 

But, if you devote all your attention to the making 
of cheese, whether it is to be sold green, or as soon as 
ripe, or packed for exportation, I need not say that 
the same neatness is required as in the making of but- 
ter. You will find many suggestions in the preceding 
pages on the mode of preparation and packing, which 
I trust will prove to be valuable and applicable to 
your circumstances. There is a general complaint 
among the dealers in cheese that it is difficult to get a 
superior article. This state of things ought not to ex- 
ist. I hope the time is not far distant when a more 
general attention will be paid to the details of manu- 
facture, and let me remind you that those who take the 
first steps in improvement will reap the greatest advan- 
tages. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE PIGGEET AS A PART OP THE DAIRY ESTAB- 
LISHMENT. 

The keeping of swine is incidental to the well-man- 
aged dairy, and both the farmer and the dairyman unite 
it, to some extent, with other branches of farming. 

In the regular operations of the dairy, however eco- 
nomically conducted, there will always be more or less 
refuse in the shape of whey, butter-milk, or skim-milk, 
which may be consumed with profit by swine, and 
which might otherwise be lost. Dairy-fed pork is dis- 
tinguished for its fineness and delicacy ; and the dairy 
refuse, in connection with grains, potatoes, and scraps, 
is highly nutritious and fattening. 

There is a wide difference between the profit to be 
derived from the different breeds. Some are far more 
thrifty than others, and arrive at maturity earlier. But 
the choice of a breed will depend, to considerable 
extent, on the locality and the object in view, whether 
it be to breed for sale as stock, or for pork or bacon. 

To get desirable crosses, some breeds must be kept 
pure, especially in the hands of stock breeders, or those 
who raise to sell as pure-bred, even though as pure 
breeds they may not be most profitable to the practical 
farmer and dairyman. Those who confine themselves 
to the pure breeds, therefore, do good service to the 
community of farmers and dairymen, who can avail 
themselves of the results of their experience and skill. 
31 



362 SUFFOLKS AND SUBSOILEES. 

I think it will generally be conceded that the size of 
the male is of less importance than his form, his tend- 
ency to lay on large amounts of fat in proportion to 
the food he eats, or his early maturity. Smallness of 
bone and compactness of form indicate early maturity ; 
and this is an essential element in the calculations of 
the dairy farmer, who generally raises for pork rather 
than for bacon, and whose profit will consist in fatten- 
ing and turning early, or, at most, as young as from 
twelve to fifteen months. A fine and delicate quality 
of pork is at the present time highly prized in the 
markets, and commands the highest price. For bacon, 
a much larger hog is preferred ; but there can be little 
doubt that the cross of the pure Suffolk or Berkshire 
boar and the large, heavy and coarse sow, not uncom- 
mon in the Western States, would produce an offspring 
far superior to the class of hogs usually denominated 
" subsoilers," with their long and pointed snouts, and 
their thin, flabby sides. The principles of breeding, as 
stated on pp. 70 and 71, and elsewhere in the preceding- 
pages, are equally applicable here, and are abundantly 
suggestive on many other points. This is the import- 
ant point, the selection of the proper breed and the 
proper cross : for there is scarcely any class of stock 
which varies so much in its net returns as this ; and 
there is none which, if properly selected and judiciously 
managed, returns the investment so quickly. 

Those who feed for the early market, and desire to 
realize the largest profits with the least outlay of time 
and money, will resort to the Suffolk, the Berkshire, or 
the Essex, to obtain crosses with sows of the larger 
breeds, and will breed up more or less closely to these 
breeds, according to the special object they have in 
view. The Suffolks are nearly allied to the Chinese, 
and possess much the same characteristics. Though 



EARLY MATURITY. — SIZE. 363 

generally regarded as too small for profit except to 
those who breed for stock, their extraordinary fattening 
qualities and their early maturity adapt them eminently 
for crossing with the larger breeds. The form of the 
well-built Suffolk, when not too closely inbred, is a 
model of compactness, and lightness of bone and offal. 
Though often too short in the body, a large-boned 
female will generally correct this fault, and produce an 
offspring suited to the wants of the dairy farmer. 

The Berkshire is also mixed in with the Chinese, and 
owes no small part of its valuable characteristics to that 
race. The Berkshires, as a breed, often attain consider- 
able size and weight. 

The improved Essex are the favorites of some, and 
for early maturity they are difficult to surpass. Some 
think they require greater care and better feeding than 
the Berkshire. 

What is wanted is to unite, so far as possible, the 
early maturity and the facility to take on fat of the 
Suffolk, the Chinese, or the Essex, with a tendency at 
the same time to make flesh as well as fat ; or, in other 
words, to attain a good growth and size, and to fatten 
easily when the time comes to put them down. The 
Chinese or the Suffolk are but ill adapted for hams and 
bacon ; but, crossed upon the kind of hog already 
described, the produce will be likely to be valuable. 

The most judicious practical farmers are now fully 
satisfied, I think, that the tendency, for the last ten 
years, in the Eastern States more especially, has been 
to breed too fine ; and that the result of this error has 
been to cover our swine with fat at a very early age, 
and before they have attained a respectable size. In 
other words, the flesh and bone have been too far 
sacrificed to fat. A reaction has already taken place 
in the opinions on this point, and perhaps some cau- 



364 STUDYING THE MARKET. 

tion may be necessary, that it does not lead too far in the 
opposite direction. 

Some practical dairymen think that with a dairy of 
twenty or thirty cows they can keep from forty to fifty 
swine, by turning into the orchard or the pasture, in early 
spring, and as pigs, where they will easily procure a 
large part of their food, till the close of fall, when they 
are taken in and fed up gradually at first, but afterward 
more highly, and fattened as rapidly and turned as 
soon as possible. 

Others say there is no profit in working hogs, and 
that they should be kept confined and constantly and 
rapidly growing up to the time of turning them for 
pork, growing steadily, but not laying on too much fat 
till fed up to it. 

I am inclined to think the farmers of the Eastern 
States confine their swine too closely ; and that, while 
still kept as store-pigs, a somewhat greater range in the 
orchard, or the pasture, would prove to be good econ- 
omy, particularly up to the age of eight or nine months. 

The judicious dairyman will study the taste and 
demands of the market where his pork is to be sold. 
If he supplies a city customer, he knows he must raise 
a fine and delicate quality of pork ; and to do this he 
must select stock that will early arrive at maturity, and 
that will bear forcing ahead and selling young. If he 
supplies a market where large amounts of pork are 
salted and packed for shipping, or for bacon, a larger 
and coarser hog, fed to greater age and weight, will 
turn to better advantage, though I think a strain of 
finer blood will even then be profitable to the feeder. 
In either case, the refuse of the dairy is of considerable 
value, and should be saved with scrupulous care, and 
judiciously fed. " Many a little makes a rnickle." 



APPENDIX. 



The following is Mr. Thomas Horsfall's statement, referred to on 
page 138, with the omission of a few passages, relating to matters 
not immediately connected with the dairy. It is entitled 

THE MANAGEMENT OF DAIRY CATTLE. 

On entering upon a description of my treatment of 
cows for dairy purposes, it seems pertinent that I 
should give some explanation of the motives and con- 
siderations which influence my conduct in this branch 
of my farm operations. 

I have found it stated, on authority deserving atten- 
tion, that store cattle of a fair size, and without other 
occupation, maintain their weight and condition for a 
length of time, when supplied daily with one hundred 
and twenty pounds of Swedish turnips and a small por- 
tion of straw. The experience of the district of 
Craven, in Yorkshire, where meadow hay is the staple 
food during winter, shows that such cattle maintain 
their condition on one and a half stone, or twenty-one 
pounds, of meadow hay each per day. These respective 
quantities of turnips and of hay correspond very closely 
in their nutritive properties ; they contain a very simi- 
lar amount of albuminous matter, starch, sugar, etc., 
and also of phosphoric acid. Of oil — an important 
element, especially for the purpose of which I am treat- 
ing — the stated supply of meadow hay contains moro 
than that of turnips. If we supply cows in milk, of 
31* 



366 APPENDIX. — hoksfall's system. 

average size, with the kind and quantity of food above 
mentioned, they will lose perceptibly in condition. 
This is easily explained when we find their milk rich in 
substances which serve for their support when in store 
condition, and which are shown to be diverted in the 
secretion of milk. 

In the neighborhood of towns where the dairy prod- 
uce is disposed of in new milk, and where the aim of 
dairymen is to produce the greatest quantity, too fre- 
quently with but little regard to quality, it is their 
common practice to purchase incalving cows. They 
pay great attention to the condition of the cow ; they 
will tell you, by the high comparative price they pay 
for animals well stored with flesh and fat, that condition 
is as valuable for them as it is for the butcher ; they 
look upon these stores as materials which serve their 
purpose ; they supply food more adapted to induce 
quantity than quality, and pay but little regard to the 
maintenance of the condition of the animal. With such 
treatment, the cow loses in condition during the process 
of milking, and when no longer profitable is sold to 
purchasers in farming districts where food is cheaper, 
to be fattened or otherwise replenished for the use of 
the dairy keeper. We thus find a disposition in the 
cow to apply the aliment of her food to her milk, rather 
than to lay on flesh or fat ; for not only are the ele- 
ments of her food diverted to this purpose, but, to all 
appearance, her accumulated stores of flesh and fat are 
drawn upon, and converted into components of milk, 
cheese, or butter. 

As I am differently circumstanced, — a considerable 
portion of my dairy produce being intended for butter, 
for which poor milk is not adapted, — and as I fatten not 
only my own cows, but purchase others to fatten in 
addition, I have endeavored to devise food for my 
milch cows adapted to their maintenance and improve- 
ment, and with this view I have paid attention to the 
composition of milk. From several analyses I have 
selected one by Haidler, which I find in publications 
of repute. Taking a full yield of milk, four gallons per 



JUDICIOUS FEEDING. 367 

day, which will weigh upwards of forty pounds, this 
analysis assigns to it of dry material 5.20, of which the 
proportion, with sufficient accuracy for my purpose, 
consists of 

Pure caseine, 2.00 pounds. 

Butter, 1.25 " 

Sugar, 1.75 " 

Phosphate of lime, 09 " 

Chloride of potassium, 

Other mineral ingredients, . . . . . .. .11 " 

5.20 " 

It appeared an object of importance, and one which 
called for my particular attention, to afford an ample 
supply of the elements of food suited to the main- 
tenance and likewise to the produce of the animal ; and 
that, if I omitted to effect this, the result would be 
imperfect and unsatisfactory. By the use of ordinary 
farm produce only, I could not hope to accomplish my 
purpose. Turnips are objectionable on account of their 
flavor ; and I seek to avoid them as food for dairy pur- 
poses. I use cabbages, kohl rabi, and mangold wurzel, 
yet only in moderate quantities. Of meadow hay it 
would require, beyond the amount necessary for the 
maintenance of the cow, an addition of fully twenty 
pounds for the supply of caseine in a full yield of milk 
(sixteen quarts) ; forty pounds for the supply of oil for 
the butter, whilst nine pounds seem adequate for that 
of the phosphoric acid. You cannot, then, induce a 
cow to consume the quantity of hay requisite for her 
maintenance, and for a full yield of milk of the quality 
instanced. Though it is a subject of controversy 
whether butter is wholly derived from vegetable oil, 
yet the peculiar adaptation of this oil to the purpose 
will, I think, be admitted. I had, therefore, to seek 
assistance from what are usually termed artificial feed- 
ing substances, and to select such as are rich in albumen, 
oil, and phosphoric acid ; and I was bound also to pay 
regard to their comparative cost, with a view to profit, 
which, when farming is followed as a business, is a 



368 APPENDIX. — hoksfall's system. 

necessary, and in any circumstances an agreeable 
accompaniment. 

I think it will be found that substances peculiarly rich 
in nitrogenous or other elements have a higher value 
for special than for general purposes, and that the 
employment of materials characterized by peculiar 
properties for the attainment of special objects has not 
yet gained the attention to which it is entitled. 

I have omitted all reference to the heat-supplying 
elements — starch, sugar, etc. As the materials com- 
monly used as food for cattle contain sufficient of these 
to effect this object, under exposure to some degree of 
cold, I have a right to calculate on a less consumption 
of them as fuel, and consequently a greater surplus for 
deposit as sugar, and probably also as fat, in conse- 
quence of my stalls being kept during winter at a tem- 
perature of nearly sixty degrees. 

The means used to carry out his objects are stated 
on page 138. 

As several of these materials — rape-cake, shorts, 
bean-straw, etc. — are not commonly used as food, I 
may be allowed some observations on their properties. 
Bean-straw uncooked is dry and unpalatable. By the 
process of steaming, it becomes soft and pulpy, emits 
an agreeable odor, and imparts flavor and relish to the 
mess. For my information and guidance I obtained an 
analysis of bean-straw of my own growth, on strong 
and high-conditioned land ; it was cut on the short side 
of ripeness, but yielding a plump bean. The analysis by 
Professor Way shows a percentage of 



Moisture, 14.47 

Albuminous mater, . . 16.38 
Oil or fatty matter, . . 2.23 



Woody fibre, .... 25.84 
Starch, gum, etc., . . . 31.63 
Mineral matters, . . . 9.45 



Total, 100.00 

In albuminous matter, which is especially valuable for 
milch cows, it has nearly double the proportion con- 
tained in meadow hay. Bran also undergoes a great 



OIL-CAKE. — WEIGHING COWS. 369 

improvement in its flavor by steaming, and it is prob- 
ably improved in its convertibility as food. It contains 
about fourteen per cent, of albumen, and is peculiarly 
rich in phosphoric acid, nearly three per cent, of its 
whole substance being of this material. The properties 
of rape-cake are well known: the published analyses 
give it a large proportion (nearly thirty per cent.) of 
albumen ; it is rich in phosphates, and also in oil. This 
is of the unctuous class of vegetable oils, and it is to 
this property that I call particular attention. Chemistry 
will assign to this material, which has hitherto been 
comparatively neglected for feeding, a first place for 
the purpose of which I am treating. If objection 
should occur on account of its flavor, I have no diffi- 
culty in stating that by the preparation I have described 
I have quite overcome this. I can easily persuade my 
cattle (of which sixty to eighty pass through my stalls 
in a year), without exception, to eat the requisite 
quantity. Nor is the flavor of the cake in the least 
perceptible in the milk or butter. 

During May, my cows are turned out on a rich pas- 
ture near the homestead ; towards evening they are 
again housed for the night, when they are supplied 
with a mess of the steamed mixture and a little hay 
each morning and evening. During June, when the 
grasses are better grown, mown grass is given to them 
instead of hay, and they are also allowed two feeds of 
steamed mixture. This treatment is continued till 
October, when they are again wholly housed. 

The results which I now proceed to relate are de- 
rived from observations made with the view of enabling 
me to understand and regulate my own proceedings. 

Gain or Loss op Condition ascertained by weigh- 
ing Cattle periodically. — For some years back I 
have regularly weighed my feeding stock, a practice 
from which I am enabled to ascertain their doings with 
greater accuracy than I could previously. In January, 
1854, I commenced weighing my milch cows. It has 
been shown, by what I have premised, that no accurate 
estimate can be formed of the effect of the food on the 

24 



370 



APPENDIX. — HORSFALL'S SYSTEM. 



production of milk, without ascertaining its effect on 
the condition of the cows. I have continued the prac- 
tice once a month, almost without omission, up to this 
date. The weighings take place early in the morning, 
and before the cows are supplied with food. The 
weights are registered, and the length of time (fifteen 
months) during which I have observed this practice 
enables me to speak with confidence of the results. 

The cows in full milk, yielding twelve to sixteen 
quarts each per day, vary but little ; some losing, 
others gaining, slightly ; the balance in the month's 
weighing of this class being rather to gain. ' It is com- 
mon for a cow to continue a yield from six to eight 
months before she gives below twelve quarts per day, 
at which time she has usually, if not invariably, gained 
weight. 

The cows giving less than twelve quarts and down 
to five quarts per day are found, when free from ail- 
ment, to gain, without exception. This gain, with an 
average yield of nearly eight quarts per day, is at the 
rate of seven pounds to eight pounds per week each. 

My cows in calf I weigh only in the incipient stages ; 
but they gain perceptibly in condition, and consequently 
in value. They are milked till within four weeks to 
five weeks previous to calving. I give the weights of 
three of these, and also of one heifer, which calved in 
March, 1855 : 



No. 




1854. 




1855. 


Gain 








cwt. qr. llis 




cwt. qr. lbs. 


lbs. 


1 


Bought and weighed, 


July. 


10 1 2( 


April. 


11 3 


148 


2 


a cc cc 


cc 


8 2 li 


cc 


10 2 


214 


3 


cc cc cc 


cc 


8 2 


cc 


10 


184 


4 


Heifer, which calved also 












in March, 1855, weighed 


cc 


7 


cc 


9 3 


300 



These observations extend over lengthened periods, 
on the same animals, of from thirty to upwards of fifty 
weeks. A cow, free from calf, and intended for fatten- 
ing, continues to give milk from ten months to a year 
after calving, and is then in a forward state of fatness 



EXTRA FOOD. — PERMANENT IMPROVEMENT. 371 

requiring but a few weeks to finish her for sale to the 
butchers. 

It will thus appear that my endeavors to provide 
food adapted to the maintenance and improvement of 
my milch cows have been attended with success. 

On examining the composition of the ordinary food 
which I have described, straw, roots, and hay, it appears 
to contain the nutritive properties which are found 
adequate to the maintenance of the animal, whereas the 
yield of milk has to be provided for by a supply of extra 
food ; the rape-cake, bran, and bean-meal, which I give, 
will supply the albumen for the caseine ; it is somewhat 
deficient in oil for the butter, whilst it will supply in 
excess the phosphate of lime for a full yield of milk. If 
I take the class of cows giving less than twelve quarts 
per day, and take also into account a gain of flesh of 
seven to nine pounds per week, though I reduce the 
quantity of extra food by giving less of the bean-meal, 
yet the supply will be more in proportion than with a full 
yield ; the surplus of nitrogen and phosphoric acid, or 
phosphate of lime, will go to enrich the manure. 

I cannot here omit to remark on the satisfaction I 
derive from the effects of this treatment on the fertility 
of the land in my occupation. My rich pastures are 
not tending to impoverishment, but to increased fer- 
tility ; their improvement in condition is apparent. A 
cow in full milk, giving sixteen quarts per day, of the 
quality analyzed by Haidlen, requires, beyond the food 
necessary for her maintenance, six to eight pounds per 
day of substances containing thirty or twenty-five per 
cent, of protein. A cow giving on the average eight 
quarts per day, with which she gains seven to nine 
pounds per week, requires four to five pounds per day 
of substances rich in protein, beyond the food which is 
necessary for her maintenance. Experience of fattening 
gives two pounds per day, or fourteen pounds per week, 
as what can be attained on an average, and for a lengl li 
of time. If we considered half a pound per day as fat, 
which is not more than probable, there will be one and 
a half pounds for flesh, which, reckoned as dry material, 



372 APPENDIX. — hoesfall's system. 

will be about one third of a pound, which is assimilated 
in increase of fibrin, and represents only one and one 
third to two pounds of substances rich in protein, 
beyond what is required for her maintenance. 

If we examine the effects on the fertility of the land, 
my milch cows, when on rich pasture, and averaging a 
yield of nine quarts per day, and reckoning one cow to 
each acre, will carry off in twenty weeks twenty-five 
pounds of nitrogen, equal to thirty of ammonia. The 
same quantity of milk will carry off seven pounds of 
phosphate of lime in twenty weeks from each acre. 

A fattening animal, gaining flesh at the rate I have 
described, will carry off about one third of the nitrogen 
(equal to about ten pounds of ammonia) abstracted by 
the milch cow, whilst if full grown it will restore the 
whole of the phosphate. 

It is worthy of remark that experience shows that 
rich pastures, used for fattening, fully maintain their fer- 
tility through a long series of years, whilst those used 
for dairy cows require periodical dressings to preserve 
their fertility. 

If these computations be at all accurate, they tend to 
show that too little attention has been given to the sup- 
ply of substances rich in nitrogenous compounds in the 
food of our milch cows, whilst we have laid too much 
stress on this property in food for fattening cattle. 
They tend also to the inference that in the effects on 
the fertility of our pastures used for dairy purposes we 
derive advantage not only from the phosphate of lime, 
but also from the gelatine of bones used as manure. 

On comparing the results from my milch cows fed in 
summer on rich pasture, and treated at the same time 
with the extra food I have described, with the results 
when on winter food, and whilst wholly housed, taking 
into account both the yield of milk and the gain of 
weight, I find those from stall-feeding full equal to those 
from depasture. The cows which I buy as strippers, for 
fattening, giving little milk, from neighboring farmers 
who use ordinaiy food, such as turnips with straw or 
hay, when they come under my treatment increase their 



RICHNESS OP MILK. 373 

yield of milk, until after a week or two they give two 
quarts per day more than when they came, and that too 
of a much richer quality. 

Richness of Milk and Cream. — I sometimes observe, 
in the weekly publications which come under my notice, 
accounts of cows giving large quantities of butter. 
These are usually, however, extraordinary instances, and 
not accompanied with other statistical information re- 
quisite to their being taken as a guide ; and it seldom 
happens that any allusion is made to the effects of the 
food on the condition of the animals, without which no 
accurate estimate can be arrived at. On looking over 
several treatises to which I have access, I find the fol- 
lowing statistics on dairy produce : Mr. Morton, in 
his " Cyclopaedia of Agriculture," p. 621, gives the 
results of the practice of a Mr. Young, an extensive 
dairy-keeper in Scotland. The yield of milk per cow is 
stated at six hundred and eighty gallons per year ; he 
obtains from sixteen quarts of milk twenty ounces of 
butter, or for the year two hundred and twenty-seven 
pounds per cow; from one gallon of cream three pounds 
of butter, or twelve ounces per quart (wine measure). 
Mr. Young is described as a high feeder ; linseed is his 
chief auxiliary food for milch cows. Professor John- 
ston (" Elements of Agricultural Chemistry") gives the 
proportion of butter from milk at one and a half ounces 
per quart, or from sixteen quarts twenty-four ounces, 
being the produce of four cows of different breeds, — 
Alderney, Devon, and Ayrshire, — on pasture, and in the 
height of the summer season. On other four cows of the 
Ayrshire breed he gives the proportion of butter from 
sixteen quarts as sixteen ounces, being one ounce per 
quart. These cows were likewise on pasture. The 
same author states the yield of butter as one fourth of 
the weight of cream, or about ten ounces per quart, 
Mr. Rowlandson (" Journal of the Royal Agricultural 
Society," vol. xiii., p. 38) gives the produce of 20,110 
quarts of milk churned by hand as 1109 pounds of but- 
ter, being at the rate of fully 14 ounces per 1G quarts 
of milk; and from 23,156 quarts of milk 1525 pounds 
32 



374 APPENDIX. — horsfall's system. 

of butter, being from 16 quarts nearly 16| ounces of 
butter. The same author states that the yield of but- 
ter derived from five churnings, of 15 quarts of cream 
each, is somewhat less than 8 ounces per quart of cream. 
Dr. Muspratt, in his work on the " Chemistry of Arts 
and Manufactures," which is in the course of publication, 
gives the yield of butter from a cow per year in Hol- 
stein and Lunenburg at 100 pounds, in England at 160 
pounds to 180 pounds. The average of butter from a 
cow in England is stated to be eight or nine ounces per 
day, which, on a yield of eight to nine quarts, is one 
ounce per quart, or for sixteen quarts sixteen ounces. 
The quantity of butter derived from cream is stated as 
one fourth, which is equal to about nine ounces per 
quart. The richest cream of which I find any record 
is that brought to the Royal Society's meeting during 
the month of July, for the churns which compete for 
the prize. On referring to the proceedings of several 
meetings, I find that fourteen ounces per quart of cream 
is accounted a good yield. 

I have frequently tested the yield of butter from a 
given quantity of my milk. My dairy produce is partly 
disposed of in new milk, partly in butter and old milk, 
so that it became a matter of business to ascertain by 
which mode it gave the best return. I may here remark 
that my dairy practice has been throughout on high 
feeding, though it has undergone several modifications. 
The mode of ascertaining the average yield of butter 
from milk has been to measure the milk on the churning- 
day, after the cream has been skimmed off, then to 
measure the cream, and having, by adding together the 
two measurements, ascertained the whole quantity of 
milk (including the cream), to compare it with that of 
the butter obtained. This I consider a more accurate 
method than measuring the new milk, as there is a con- 
siderable escape of gas, and consequent subsidence, 
whilst it is cooling. The results have varied from 
twenty-four to twenty-seven and a quarter ounces from 
sixteen quarts of milk. I therefore assume in my cal- 
culation sixteen quarts of milk as yielding a roll (twen- 
ty-five ounces) of butter. 



PROPORTION OF CREAM AND BUTTER. 375 

As I have at times a considerable number of cows 
bought as strippers, and fattened as they are milked, 
which remain sometimes in my stalls eight or nine 
months, and yield towards the close but five quarts per 
day, I am not enabled to state with accuracy and from as- 
certained data the average yield per year of my cows kept 
for dairy purposes solely. However, from what occurs 
at grass-time, when the yield is not increased, and also 
from the effects of my treatment on cows which I buy, 
giving a small quantity, I am fully persuaded that my 
treatment induces a good yield of milk. 

As the yield of butter from a given quantity of cream 
is not of such particular consequence, I have not given 
equal attention to ascertain their relative proportions. 
I have a recollection of having tested this on a former 
occasion, when I found fourteen to sixteen ounces per 
quart, but cannot call to mind under what treatment this 
took place. 

On questioning my dairy-woman, in December, 1854, 
as to the proportion of cream and butter, she reported 
nearly one roll of twenty-five ounces of butter to one 
quart of cream. I looked upon this as a mistake. On 
its accuracy being persisted in, the next churning was 
carefully observed, with a like proportion. My dairy 
cows averaged then a low range of milk as to quantity — 
about eight quarts each per day. Six of them, in a for- 
ward state of fatness, were intended to be dried for 
finishing off in January ; but, owing to the scarcity and 
consequent dearness of calving cows, I kept them on in 
milk till I could purchase cows to replace them, and it 
was not till February that I had an opportunity of 
doing so. I then bought four cows within a few days 
of calving ; they were but in inferior condition, and 
yielded largely of milk. Towards the close of February 
and March, four of my own dairy cows, in full condi- 
tion, likewise calved. During March, three of the six 
which had continued from December, and were milked 
nearly up to the day of sale, were selected by the 
butcher as fit for bis purpose. Bach churning through- 
out was carefully observed, with a similar result, vary- 



376 APPENDIX. — hoesfall's system. 

ing but little from twenty-five ounces of butter per 
quart of cream ; on Monday, April 30, sixteen quarts 
of cream having yielded sixteen rolls (of twenty -five 
ounces each) of butter. Though I use artificial means 
of raising the temperature of my dairy, by the applica- 
tion of hot water during cold weather, yet, my service- 
pipes being frozen in February, I was unable to keep 
up the temperature, and it fell to forty-five degrees. 
Still my cream, though slightly affected, was peculiarly 
rich, yielding twenty-two ounces of butter per quart. 
Throughout April the produce of milk from my fifteen 
dairy cows averaged full one hundred and sixty quarts 
per day. 

My cows are bought in the neighboring markets with 
a view to their usefulness and profitableness. The 
breeds of this district have a considerable admixture of 
the short-horn, which is not noted for the richness of 
its milk. It will be remarked that during the time 
these observations have been continued on the propor- 
tion of butter from cream, more than half of my cows 
have been changed. 

Having satisfied myself that the peculiar richness of 
my cream was due mainly to the treatment of my cows 
which I have sought to describe, it occurred to me that 
I ought not to keep it to myself, inasmuch as these 
results of my dairy practice not only afforded matter 
of interest to the farmer, but were fit subjects for 
the investigation of the physiologist and the chemist. 
Though my pretensions to acquirements in their 
instructions are but slender, they are such as enable 
me to acknowledge benefit in seeking to regulate my 
proceedings by their rules. 

In taking off the cream I use an ordinary shallow 
skimmer of tin perforated with holes, through which 
any milk gathered in skimming escapes. It requires 
care to clear the cream ; and even with this some 
streakiness is observable on the surface of the skimmed 
milk. The milk-bowls are of glazed brown earthen 
ware, common in this district. They stand on a base 
of six to eight inches, and expand at the surface to 



BUTTER AND BUTTER-MILK. 377 

nearly twice that width. Four to five quarts are con- 
tained in each bowl, the depth being four to five inches 
at the centre. The churn I use is a small wooden one, 
worked by hand, on what I believe to be the American 
principle. I have forwarded to Professor Way a small 
sample of butter for analysis ; fifteen quarts of cream 
were taken out of the cream-jar, and churned at three 
times in equal portions : 

The first five quarts of cream gave . . 127 ounces of butter. 
Second five " " " " . . 125 " " " 
Third five " " " " . . 120-1- " " " 

"3721 
Equal to 24| ounces per quart. 

At a subsequent churning of fourteen quarts of 
cream, 

The first seven gave 7 rolls, or . . . 175 ounces of butter. 
Second seven gave 7 rolls 2 oz., or . .177 " " " 

352 
Equal to 25^. ounces per quart. 

On testing the comparative yield of butter and of 
butter-milk, I find seventy per cent, of butter to thirty 
per cent, of butter-milk, thus reversing the proportions 
given in the publications to which I have referred. An 
analysis of my butter by Professor Way gives : 

Pure fat or oil, 82.70 

Caseine or curd, 2.45 

Water, with a little salt, 14.85 

Total, 100.00 

The only analyses of this material which I find in the 
publications in my hand are two by Professor Way, 
" Journal," vol. xi. 7 p. 735, " On butter by the common 
and by the Devonshire method ; " the result in one 
hundred parts being : 

Raw. Scalded. 

Pure butter, 79.72 79.12 

Caseine, &c, 3.38 3.37 

Water, 16.90 17.51 

Total, 100.00 IO0T0O 

32* 



378 APPENDIX. — horsfall's system. 

The foregoing observation of dairy results was con- 
tinued up to grass time in 1855. In April and May the 
use of artificial means was discontinued, without dimi- 
nution in the yield of butter or richness of cream, the 
natural temperature being sufficient to maintain that of 
my dairy at 54° to 56°. 

I now proceed to describe the appearances since that 
time. In the summer season, whilst my cows were 
grazing in the open pastures during the day and housed 
during the night, being supplied with a limited quantity 
of the steamed food each morning and evening, a 
marked change occurred in the quality of the milk and 
cream ; the quantity of the latter somewhat increased, 
but, instead of twenty-five ounces of butter per quart 
of cream, my summer cream yielded only sixteen ounces 
per quart. ' 

I would not be understood to attribute this variation 
in quality to the change of food only. It is commonly 
observed by dairy-keepers that milk, during the warm 
months of summer, is less rich in butter, owing probably 
to the greater restlessness of the cows, from being teased 
by flies, etc. I am by no means sure that, if turning 
out during the warm months be at all advisable, it 
would not be preferable that this should take place 
during the night instead of during the day time. 
Towards the close of September, when the temperature 
had become much cooler, and the cows were supplied 
with a much larger quantity of the steamed food, results 
appeared very similar to those which I had observed 
and described from December to May, 1855. During 
the month of November the quality was tested with the 
following result : 

From two hundred and fifty-two quarts of old milk 
were taken twenty-one quarts of cream, of which twenty 
were churned, and produced four hundred and sixty- 
eight ounces of butter, which shows : 

27.50 ounces of butter from 16 quarts of new milk. 
23.40 " " " " each quart of cream. 

During May, 1856, my cows being on open pasture 



ELEMENTS OF NUTRITION. 379 

during the day were supplied with two full feeds of the 
steamed mixture, together with a supply of green rape- 
plant each morning and evening. 

The result was that from three hundred and twenty- 
four quarts of old milk twenty-three quarts of cream 
were skimmed, of which twenty-two were churned, and 
produced five hundred and fifteen ounces of butter, 
which shows : 

24 ounces of butter from 16 quarts of new milk. 
22.41 " " " " each quart of cream. 

There is, doubtless, some standard of food adapted to 
the constitution and purposes of animals, combining with 
bulk a due proportion of elements of respiration, such 
as sugar, starch, &c, together with those of nutrition, 
namely, nitrogenous compounds, phosphates, and other 
minerals; nor can we omit oil or fat-forming substances ; 
for, however we may be disposed to leave to philosophy 
the discussion as to whether sugar, starch, &c, are con- 
vertible into fat, yet I think I shall not offend the 
teacher of agricultural chemistry by stating that the 
more closely the elements of food resemble those in the 
animal and its product, the more efficacious will such 
food be for the particular purpose for which it is used. 

Sugar, starch, &c, vary very considerably in form and 
proportion from vegetable oils, which closely resemble 
animal fats. 

When we consider that plants have a two-fold function 
to perform, — namely, to serve as food for animals, and 
also for the reproduction of the like plants, — and that, 
after having undergone the process of digestion, they 
retain only one half or one third of their value as ma- 
nure, the importance of affording a due but not excess- 
ive supply of each element of food essential to the 
wants and purposes of the animal will be evident. If 
we fall short, the result will be imperfect; if we supply 
in excess, it will entail waste and loss. 

Linseed and rape-cake resemble each other very closely 
in chemical composition ; the latter is chiefly used for 
manure, and its price ranges usually about half that of 



380 APPENDIX. — horsfall's system. 

linseed-cake. In substances poorer in nitrogen, and with 
more of starch, gum, oil, &c, the disparity in value as 
food and as manure will be proportionately greater. 

During the present season, Mr. Mendelsohn, of Ber- 
lin, and Mr. Gausange, who is tenant of a large royal 
domain near Frankfort on the Oder, on which he keeps 
about one hundred and fifty dairy cows, have been my vis- 
itors. These gentlemen have collected statistics in dairy 
countries through which they have travelled. I learned 
from them that in Mecklenburg, Prussia, Holland, &c, 
fourteen quarts of milk yield, on the average, one pound 
of butter ; in rare instances twelve quarts are found to 
yield one pound. Both attach great importance to the 
regulation of the temperature. Mr. Mendelsohn tells 
me that the milk from cows fed on draff (distillers' 
refuse) requires a higher temperature to induce its yield 
of butter than that from cows supplied with other 
food. 

On inquiry in my own neighborhood, I find it is com- 
puted that each quart at a milking represents one pound 
of butter per week. Thus, a cow which gives four 
quarts at each milking will yield in butter four pounds 
per week, or from fifty-six quarts sixty-four ounces of 
butter, or from fourteen quarts of milk one pound of 
butter. Taking the winter produce alone, it is lower 
than this ; the cream from my neighbors' cows, who 
use common food, hay, straw, and oats, somewhat resem- 
bles milk in consistence, and requires three to four 
hours, sometimes more, in churning. On one occasion, 
a neighboring dairy-woman sent to borrow my churn, 
being unable to make butter with her own ; I did not 
inquire the result. If she had sent her cow, I could in 
the course of a week have insured her cream which 
would make butter in half an hour. These dairy people 
usually churn during winter in their kitchen, or other 
room with a fire. Each of them states that from bean or 
oat meal used during winter as an auxiliary food they 
derive a greater quantity of butter, whilst those who 
have tried linseed-oil have perceived no benefit from it. 

My own cream during the winter season is of the 



SUMMER BUTTER IN WINTER. 381 

consistence of paste, or thick treacle. When the jar is 
full, a rod of two feet long will, when dipped into the 
cream to half its length, stand erect. If I take out a 
teacupful in the evening, and let it stand till next 
morning, a penny-piece laid on its surface will not sink ; 
on taking it off, I find the under side partially spotted 
with cream. The churnings are performed in a room 
without fire, at a temperature in winter of forty-three 
to forty-five degrees, and occupy one half to three 
quarters of an hour. 

Several who have adopted my system have reported 
similar effects — an increase in the quantity with a com- 
plete change as to richness of quality. I select from 
these Mr. John Simpson, a tenant farmer residing at 
Ripley, in Yorkshire, who, at my request, stated to the 
committee of the Wharf dale Agricultural Society that 
he and a neighbor of his, being inconvenienced from a 
deficient yield of milk, had agreed to try my mode of 
feeding, and provided themselves with a steaming appa- 
ratus. This change of treatment took place in February, 
1855. I quote his words : 

" In about five days I noticed a great change in my 
milk; the cows yielded two quarts each, per day, more; 
but what surprised me most was the change in the qual- 
ity. Instead of poor winter cream and butter, they as- 
sumed the appearance and character of rich summer 
produce. It only required twenty minutes for churning, 
instead of two to three hours ; there was also a consid- 
erable increase in the quantity of butter, of which, how- 
ever, T did not take any particular notice. My neigh- 
bor's cow gave three quarts per clay in addition, and her 
milk was so changed in appearance that the consumers 
to whom he sold it became quite anxious to know the 
cause." 

My dairy is but six feet wide by fifteen long and 
twelve high. At one end (to the north) is a trellis win- 
dow ; at the other, an inner door, which opens into the 
kitchen. There is another door near to this, which opens 
into the churning-room, having also a northern aspect ; 
both doors are near the south end of the dairy. Along 



382 APPENDIX. — horsfall's system. 

each side, and the north end, two shelves of wood are 
fixed to the wall, the one fifteen inches above the other; 
two feet higher is another shelf somewhat narrower, 
but of like length, which is covered with charcoal, 
whose properties as a deodorizer are sufficiently estab- 
lished. The lower shelves being two feet three inches 
wide, the interval or passage between is only one foot 
six inches. On each tier of shelves is a shallow wooden 
cistern, lined with thin sheet-lead, having a rim at the 
edges three inches high. These cisterns incline down- 
wards slightly towards the window, and contain water 
to the depth of three inches. At the end nearest the 
kitchen each tier of cisterns is supplied with two taps, 
one for cold water in summer, the other with hot for 
winter use. At the end next the north window is a 
plug or hollow tube, with holes perforated at such an 
elevation as to take the water before it flows over the 
cistern. 

During the summer the door towards the kitchen is 
closed, and an additional door is fixed against it, with an 
interval between well packed with straw ; a curtain of 
stout calico hangs before the trellis window, which is 
dipped in salt water, and kept wet during the whole 
day by cold water spirted over it from a gutta-per- 
cha tube. On the milk being brought in, it is emp- 
tied into bowls. Some time after these bowls (of 
which a description is given in a former part of this) 
have been placed on the cistern, the cold-water taps 
are turned till the water rises through the perforated 
tube, and flows through a waste pipe into the sewer. 
The taps are then closed, so as to allow a slight trick- 
ling of water, which continues through the day. By 
these means I reduce the temperature, as compared 
with that outside the window, by twenty degrees. I am 
thus enabled to allow the milk to stand till the cream 
has risen, and keep the skimmed milk sweet, for which 
I obtain one penny per quart. 

Having heard complaints during very hot "weather 
of skimmed milk, which had left my dairy perfectly 
sweet, being affected so as to curdle in cooking on 



LOWERING INTO A WELL. 383 

being carried into the village, I caused covers of thick 
calico (the best of our fabrics for retaining moisture) to 
be made ; these are dipped in salt water, and then 
drawn over the whole of the tin milk-cans. The con- 
trivance is quite successful, and is in great favor with 
the consumers. I have not heard a single complaint 
since I adopted it. 

Finding my butter rather soft in hot weather, I un- 
covered a draw-well which I had not used since I intro- 
duced water-works for the supply of the village and my 
own premises. On lowering a thermometer down the 
well to a depth of twenty-eight feet, I found it indicated 
a temperature of forty-three degrees — that on the sur- 
face being seventy degrees. I first let down the butter, 
which was somewhat improved, but afterwards the 
cream. For this purpose I procured a movable windlass 
with a rope of the required length ; the cream-jar is 
placed in a basket two feet four inches deep, suspended 
on the rope, and let down the evening previous to churn- 
ing. It is drawn up early next morning, and imme- 
diately churned. By this means the churning occupies 
about the same time as in winter, and the butter is of 
like consistence. 

The advantage I derive from this is such that, rather 
than be without it, I should prefer sinking a well for 
the purpose of reaching a like temperature. 

When winter approaches, the open trellis window to 
the north is closed, an additional shutter being fixed 
outside, and the interval between this and an inner 
shutter closely packed with straw, to prevent the access 
of air and cold ; the door to the kitchen is at the same 
time unclosed to admit warmth. Before the milk is 
brought from the cow-house, the dairymaid washes the 
bowls well with hot water, the effect of which is to take 
oif the chill, but not to warm them. The milk is brought 
in as milked, and is passed through a sile into the bowls, 
which are then placed on the cistern. A thermometer, 
with its bulb immersed in the milk, denotes a tempera- 
ture of about ninety degrees. The hot water is applied 
immediately, at a temperature of one hundred degrees 



384 APPENDIX. — hobsfall's system. 

or upwards, and continues to flow for about five min- 
utes, when the supply is exhausted. The bowls being 
of thick earthen ware, — a slow conductor, — this does 
not heighten the temperature of the milk. The cooling, 
however, is thereby retarded, as I find the milk, after 
standing four hours, maintains a temperature of sixty 
degrees. This application of hot water is renewed at 
each milking to the new milk, but not repeated to the 
same after it has cooled. The temperature of the dairy 
is momentarily increased to above 60°, but speedily 
subsides, the average temperature being 52° to 56°. 

It will be observed that the churnings in summer and 
winter occupy half an hour or upwards. By increasing 
the temperature of the cream I could easily churn in 
half the time, but I should thereby injure the quality 
of the butter. When the butter has come and gathered 
into a mass, it is taken, together with the butter-milk, 
out of the churn, which is rinsed with water ; the but- 
ter is then placed again in the churn with a quantity of 
cold spring water, in which salt has been dissolved, at the 
rate of one ounce per quart of cream ; after a few min- 
utes 7 churning, the butter is again taken out ; the water 
in which it has been washed assumes a whitish appear- 
ance. By this process the salt is equally diffused 
through the butter, which requires little manipulation, 
and is freed from a portion of caseous matter. A recent 
analysis of my butter shows only 1.07 instead of 2.45 
per cent, of caseine, as before. That it ranks as choice 
may be inferred when I state that my purchaser will- 
ingly gives me a penny per roll more than the highest 
price in Otley market, and complains that I do not sup- 
ply him with a greater quantity. 

In this dairy of the small dimensions I have described, 
my produce of butter reaches at times sixty to seventy 
pounds per week. Though the size may appear incon- 
veniently small, yet I beg to remark on the greater 
facility of regulating the temperature of a small in com- 
parison with a large dairy. This difficulty will be found 
greater in summer than in winter, as it is far easier to 
heighten than depress the temperature. 



STEAMING FOOD. — BEAN-VINES. 385 

I have cooked or steamed my food for several years. 
It will be observed that I blend bean-straw, bran, and 
malt-combs, as flavoring materials, with oat or other 
straw and rape-cake ; the effect of steaming is to vola- 
tilize the essential oils, in which the flavor resides, and 
diffuse them through the mess. The odor arising from 
it resembles that observed from the process of malting ; 
this imparts relish to the mess, and induces the cattle to 
eat it greedily; in addition to which, I am disposed to 
think that it renders the food more easy of digestion 
and assimilation. I use this process with advantage for 
fattening, when I am deficient in roots. With the same 
mixed straw and oat-shells, three to four pounds each 
of rape-cake, and half a pound of linseed-oil, but with- 
out roots, I have fattened more than thirty heifers and 
cows free from milk, from March up to the early part 
of May ; their gain has averaged fully fourteen pounds 
each per week, — a result I could not have looked for 
from the same materials, if uncooked. This process 
seems to have the effect of rendering linseed-oil less of 
a laxative, but cannot drive off any portion of the fat- 
tening oils, to volatilize which requires a very high 
temperature. My experience of the benefits of steam- 
ing is such that if I were deprived of it I could not 
continue to feed with satisfaction. 

I have weighed my fattening cattle for a number of 
years, and my milch cows for more than two years. 
This practice enables me at once to detect any defi- 
ciency in the performance of the animals ; it gives also 
a stimulus to the feeders, who attend at the weighings, 
and who are desirous that the cattle intrusted to their 
care should bear a comparison with their rivals. An- 
other obvious advantage is in avoiding all cavils re- 
specting the weight by my purchasers, who, having 
satisfied themselves as to the quality of the animal, now 
ask and obtain the most recent weighing. The usual 
computation for a well-fed but not over fat beast is, 
live to dead weight, as 21 to 12, or 100 to 59f, with 
such modifications as suggest themselves by appear- 
ances. 

33 25 



386 APPENDIX. — hoksfall's system. 

Though many discussions have taken place on the 
fattening of cattle, the not less important branch of 
dairy treatment has hitherto been comparatively neg- 
lected. I therefore venture to call attention to con- 
siderations which have arisen from observations in my 
own practice affecting the chemistry and physiology, 
or, in other words, the science of feeding. That I am 
seeking aid from its guidance will be apparent, and I 
have no hesitation in admitting that, beyond the satis- 
faction from the better understanding of my business, 
I have latterly derived more benefit or profit from 
examination of the chemical composition of materials 
of food than from the treatment or feeding experiments 
of others which have come under my notice. So per- 
suaded am I of the advantage of this, that I do not feel 
satisfied to continue the use of any material, with the 
composition of which I am not acquainted, without 
resorting to the society's laboratory for an analysis. 

To one leading feature of my practice I attach the 
greatest importance — -the maintenance of the condition 
of my cows giving a large yield of milk. I am enabled, 
by the addition of bean-meal in proportion to the 
greater yield of milk, to avert the loss of condition in 
those giving sixteen to eighteen quarts per day ; whilst 
on those giving a less yield, and in health, I invariably 
effect an improvement. 

When we take into consideration the disposition of a 
cow to apply her food rather to her milk than to her 
maintenance and improvement, it seems fair to infer 
that the milk of a cow gaining flesh will not be deficient 
either in caseine or butter. 

I have already alluded to the efficiency of bean-meal 
in increasing the quantity of butter : I learn, also, from 
observant dairymen who milk their own cows and carry 
their butter to market, that their baskets are never so 
well filled as when their cows feed on green clover, 
which, as dry material, is nearly as rich in albumen as 
beans. I am also told, by those who have used green 
rape-plant, that it produces milk rich in butter. Prom 
this we may infer that albuminous matter is the most 



BEAN AND LINSEED MEAL. 387 

essential element in the food of the milch cow, and that 
any deficiency in the supply of this will be attended 
with loss of condition, and .a consequent diminution in 
the quality of her milk. 

I am clearly of opinion that you can increase the pro- 
portion of butter in milk more than that of caseine, or 
other solid parts. From several, who have adopted 
my treatment, I learn that on substituting rape-cake 
for beans they perceive an increased richness in their 
milk. Mr. T. Garnett, of Clitheroe, who has used bean- 
meal largely as an auxiliary food for milch cows during 
the winter season, tells me that when rape-cake is sub- 
stituted, his dairymaid, without being informed, per- 
ceives the change from the increased richness of the 
milk. Mr. Garnett has also used linseed-cake in like 
quantity ; still his dairy people prefer rape-cake. 

Mr. Whelon, of Lancaster, who keeps two milch cows 
for his own use, to which he gave bean-meal and bran 
as auxiliaries, has recently substituted rape-cake * for 
bean-meal ; he informs me that in a week he saw a change 
in the richness of milk, with an increase of butter. 

The vegetable oils are of two distinct classes : the 
drying or setting represented by linseed, the unctuous 
represented by rape-oil. They consist of two proximate 
elements, margarine and oleine ; in all probability they 
will vary in their proportion of these, but in what 
degree I have not been able to ascertain. Though the 
agricultural chemists make no distinction, as far as I 
am aware, between these two classes of oils, the prac- 
titioners in medicine use them for distinct purposes. 
God-liver oil has been long used for pulmonary com- 
plaints ; latterly, olive, almond, and rape oils are being 
employed as substitutes. These are all of the unctuous 
class of oils. Mr. Rhincl, the intelligent medical prac- 
titioner of this village, called my attention to some 
experiments by Dr. Leared, published in the Medical 
Times, July 21st, 1855, with oleine alone, freed from 

* The analysis of cotton-seed cake, in comparison with rape and linseed 
cake, in a former chapter of this work, will show the comparative value 
of that as food for milch cows. 



388 APPENDIX. — hoesfall's system. 

margarine, which showed marked superiority in the 
effect ; and I now learn from Mr. Rhind that he is at 
present using with success the pure oleine, prepared by 
Messrs. Price & Co., from cocoa-nut oil, one of the 
unctuous class. That linseed and others of the drying- 
oils are used in medicine for a very different purpose, 
it seems unnecessary to state. 

The oleine of oil is known to be more easy of con- 
sumption and more available for respiration than mar- 
garine — ■ a property to which its use in medicine may 
be attributable. If we examine the animal fats, tal- 
low, suet, and other fat, they are almost wholly of the 
solid class, stearine or margarine, closely resembling or 
identical with the margarine in plants ; whilst butter is 
composed of oleine and margarine, combining both the 
proximate elements found in vegetable oils. 

It seems worthy of remark that a cow can yield a far 
greater weight of butter than she can store up in solid 
fat ; numerous instances occur where a cow gives off 
two pounds of butter per day, or fourteen pounds per 
week, whilst half that quantity will probably rarely be 
laid on in fat. If you allow a cow to gain sixteen 
pounds per week, and reckon seven for fat, there will 
only remain nine pounds for flesh, or, deducting the 
moisture, scarcely three pounds (2.97) per Aveek, equal 
to .42, or less than half a pound per day, of dry fibrin. 

The analyses of butter show a very varying propor- 
tion of oleine and margarine fats : summer butter usually 
contains of oleine sixty and margarine forty per cent., 
whilst in winter butter these proportions are reversed, 
being forty of oleine to sixty of margarine. By ordi- 
nary treatment the quantity of butter during winter is 
markedly inferior. The common materials for dairy 
cows in winter are straw with turnips or mangel, hay 
alone, or hay with mangel. If we examine these mate- 
rials, we find them deficient in oil, or in starch, sugar, 
etc. If a cow consume two stones or twenty-eight 
pounds of hay a day, which is probably more than she 
can be induced to eat on an average, it will be equal in 
dry material to more than one hundred pounds of 



CONSTITUENTS OF BUTTER. 389 

young grass, which will also satisfy a cow. That one 
hundred pounds of young grass will yield more butter, 
will scarcely admit of a doubt. The twenty-eight 
pounds of hay will be equal in albuminous matter and 
in oil to the one hundred pounds of grass ; but in the 
element of starch, sugar, etc., there is a marked differ- 
ence. During the growth of the plant, the starch and 
sugar are converted into woody fibre, in which form 
they are scarcely digestible or available for respiration. 
It seems, then, not improbable that, when a cow is sup- 
plied with hay only, she will consume some portion of 
the oleine oil for respiration, and yield a less quantity 
of butter poorer in oleine. 

If you assume summer butter to contain of oleine, . . 60 per cent. 
" " " " " •' " of margarine, 40 " " 

100 " " 
If the cow consume of the oleine, 36 " " 

The quantity of butter will be reduced from 100 to . 64 " " 

And the proportions will then be, of oleine, . . . 40 " " 
" " " " " " ofmargarine, . . 60 " " 

100 » " 

If you supply turnips or mangel with hay, the cow 
will consume less of hay ; you thereby substitute a 
material richer in sugar, etc., and poorer in oil. Each 
of these materials, in the quantity a cow can consume, 
is deficient in the suj)ply of albumen necessary to keep 
up the condition of an animal giving a full yield of 
milk. To effect this, recourse must be had to artificial 
or concentrated substances of food, rich in albuminous 
matter. 

It can scarcely be expected, nor is it desirable, that 
practical farmers should apply themselves to the attain- 
ment of proficiency in the art of chemical investiga- 
tions ; this is more properly the occupation of the pro- 
fessor of science. The following simple experiment, 
however, seems worth mentioning. On several occa- 
sions, during winter, I procured samples of butter from 
my next neighbor. On placing these, with a like quan- 
tity of my own, in juxtaposition before the fire, my 
33* 



390 



APPENDIX. — HOESFALL'S SYSTEM. 



butter melted with far greater rapidity — by no means 
an unsafe test of a greater proportion of oleine. 

The chemical investigation of our natural and other 
grasses has hitherto scarcely had the attention which it 
deserves. The most valuable information on this sub- 
ject is in the paper by Professor Way, on the nutritive 
and fattening properties of the grasses, in vol. xiv., p. 
171, of the Royal Agricultural Society's Journal. 
These grasses were nearly all analyzed at the flowering 
time, a stage at which no occupier of grass-land would 
expect so favorable a result in fattening. We much 
prefer pastures with young grass not more than a few 
inches high, sufficient to afford a good bite. With a 
view to satisfy myself as to the difference of compo- 
sition of the like grasses at different stages of growth, 
I sent to Professor Way a specimen of the first crop of 
hay, cut in the end of June, when the grass was in the 
early stage of flowering, and one of aftermath, cut 
towards the close of September, from the same meadow, 
the analyses of which I give : 



HAY, FIRST CROP. 

Moisture, .... 
Albuminous matter, . 
Oil and fatty matter, . 
Starch, gum, sugar, 
Woody fibre, . . . 
Mineral matter, 



12.02 
9.24 

2.68 
39.75 
27.41 

8.90 



100.00 



AFTER3IATH HAT 

Moisture, . . . 
Oil and fatty matter, 
Albuminous matter, 
Starch, gum, sugar, 
Woody fibre, 
Mineral matter, 



11.87 

6.84 

9.84 

42.25 

19.77 

9.43 

100.00 



A comparison between these will show a much 
greater percentage of woody fibre, — 27.41 in the first 
crop to 19.77 in the aftermath. The most remarkable 
difference, however, is in the proportion of oil, being 
2.68 in the first crop to 6.84 in the aftermath. 

On inquiry from an observing tenant of a small dairy 
farm of mine, who has frequently used aftermath hay, I 
learn that, as compared with the first crop, he finds it 
induce a greater yield of milk, but attended with some 
impoverishment in the condition of the cow, and thathe 
uses it without addition of turnips or other roots, which 



NUTRITIVE QUALITIES OF GRASSES. 391 

he gives when using hay of the first crop — an answer 
quite in accordance with what might be expected from 
its chemical composition. 

It is likewise to be presumed that the quickness of 
growth will materially affect the composition of grasses, 
as well as of other vegetables. Your gardener will tell 
you that if radishes are slow in growth they will be 
tough and woody ; that asparagus melts in eating, like 
butter, and salad is crisp when grown quickly. The 
same effect will, I apprehend, be found in grasses of 
slow growth: they will contain more of woody fibre, 
with less of starch or sugar. The quality of butter 
grown on poor pastures is characterized by greater 
solidity than on rich feeding pastures. The cows, having 
to travel over more space, require a greater supply of 
the elements of respiration, whilst the grasses grown on 
these poor pastures contain, in all probability, less of 
these in a digestible form available for respiration. The 
like result seems probable as from common winter treat- 
ment — a produce of butter less in quantity, and con- 
taining a greater proportion of margarine, and a less of 
oleine. 

It is well known that pastures vary greatly in their 
butter-producing properties ; there is, however, as far 
as I am aware, no satisfactory explanation of this. If 
you watch cows on depasture, you observe them select 
their own food ; if you supply cows in stall alike with 
food, they will also select for themselves. I give rape- 
cake as a mixture to all, and ind,uce them to eat the 
requisite quantity ; yet some will select the rape-cake 
first, and eat it up clean, whilst others rather neglect it 
till towards the close of their meal, and then leave 
pieces in the trough. Two Alderneys, — the only cows 
of the kind I have as yet had, — whose butter-producing 
qualities are well known, are particularly fond of rape- 
cake, and never leave a morsel. May not these animals 
be prompted by their instinct to select such food as is 
best suited to their wants and propensities ? If so, it 
seems of the greatest importance that the dairyman 
should be informed of the properties of food most suit- 



392 APPENDIX. — horsfall's system. 

able for his purpose,, especially whilst in a stall, where 
they have little opportunity of selecting. 

It appears worth the attention of our society to make 
inquiries as to the localities which are known as pro- 
ducing milk peculiarly rich in butter. When travelling 
in Germany, I well recollect being treated with pecu- 
liarly rich milk, cream, and butter, on my tour between 
Dresden and Toplitz, at the station or resting-place on 
the chaussee or turnpike-road, before you descend a 
very steep incline to the valley in which Toplitz is situ- 
ated. I travelled this way after an interval of several 
years, when the same treat was again offered. It was 
given as a rarity, and can only be accounted for by the 
peculiar adaptation of the herbage of the country for 
the production of butter. 

Comparison of different methods of Feeding 
Dairy Cows. — Being desirous of comparing the result 
of my method of feeding dairy cows with the system 
usually practised in this locality, it occurred to me that, 
as my cows had been accustomed to savory steamed 
food, a change to ordinary food would be attended with 
less favorable results than if they had been previously 
treated in the common mode ; and that, under these cir- 
cumstances, it would be better to institute comparisons 
with two near neighbors, Mr. Smith and Mr. Pawson, 
whose practice and results I had the opportunity of 
inspecting. 

Mr. Smith's cow T was of rather small frame, but noted 
for her usefulness as a good milker. At the time of 
calving her third calf, about the 12th of November, she 
was in good condition, and gave, soon after, seventeen 
quarts of milk per day. Her owner states that in the 
first three weeks (up to the time this comparison was 
begun) her condition sensibly diminished — a result 
which I apprehend will be invariable with cows giving 
this quantity of milk when fed on meadow hay only, 
with which Mr. Smith's cow was supplied ad libitum, 
and of which she consumed twenty-eight pounds per 
day. Mr. Pawson's was a nice heifer, three years old 
at the time of calving her first calf, October 6th, in 



MODES OF FEEDING DAIRY COWS. 



393 



more than ordinary condition, and gave about sixteen 
quarts per clay. Her owner states that on the first of 
January her condition was much diminished. This is 
corroborated by Mr. Myers, a dealer in the village, who 
tells me that, previous to her calving, he was desirous 
of purchasing her, and would have given from seven- 
teen pounds ten shillings to eighteen pounds, and 
describes her as being at that time full of beef. Her 
weight on the first of January, 7 cwt. 2 qrs., bespeaks 
her condition as much lowered. 

During the month of October, and till late in Novem- 
ber, she was turned out in the daytime to graze on 
aftermath, and housed during the night, where she was 
supplied with turnips. From the close of November 
till the first week in February, her food consisted of 

Meadow hay of inferior quality, ... 18 lbs. per day. 

Swedish turnips, 45 " " " 

Ground oats, 9 " " " 

After this the ground oats were discontinued, and 
meadow hay of good quality was given ad libitum, with 
forty-five pounds of turnips. 

For comparison I selected a cow of my own, which 
calved about the 8th of October, and gave soon after 
eighteen quarts of milk per day; she was also of small 
size. At the time of calving her condition was some- 
what higher than that of Mr. Smith's. When the 
experiment was begun, on the first of January, no per- 
ceivable difference was found in the yield of milk of 
Mr. Smith's cow and my own, each giving fifteen and a 
half quarts per day. 

The following table gives the dates of calving of the 
three cows, together with their weights and yield of 
milk at the commencement and termination of the 
experiment : 







Janua 


•y 1. March 5. 


When calved. 


Yield at 

calving. 


Weight. 1 Yield. Weight. Yield. 


' 


Quarts. | Cwt. | qrs. | lbs. | Qts. | Cwt. | qrs. | lbs. | Qts. 


Mr. Smith's — Nov. 12. 
Mr. Pawson's — Oct. 6. 
My own — Oct. 8. 


17 
16 
18 


8 
7 
9 


3 
2 
3 







15£ 

12 

151 


8 

7 

10 



1 
1 







91 

61 

121 



394 APPENDIX. — horsfall's system. 



Mr. Smith's cow lost in weight in nine weeks 84 
pounds, being 9| pounds per week, with an average 
yield of 12| quarts per day. Mr. Pawson's lost 28 
pounds. This loss, together with the diminished yield 
of milk, occurred almost wholly after the oats had been 
withdrawn ; her weight on the 6th of February being 
still 7 cwt. 2 qrs., and her yield of milk 11 quarts per 

My cow has gained in the nine weeks 56 lbs., being 
6j pounds per week, with an average yield of 14 quarts, 
the diminution being regular. January 1st, 15J ; Feb. 
4th, 14; March 4th, 12J ; making an average yield of 
14 quarts per day. The whole loss and gain of weight 
will be in flesh and fat, the cows having kept up their 
consumption of food and their bulk. 

The weekly account of profit and loss will stand as 
follows : 

Mr. Smith's cow, average yield for 9 weeks, 12^ quarts s. d. 

per day, at 2d. per quart, 14 7 

Deduct loss in flesh, 9£ lbs., at 6d., 4 8 

9 11 
Cost of 14 stones hay, at &d. per stone, 7 

Profit, . . . •. 2 11 

Mr. Pawson's cow, average during the first five weeks, ll£ s. d. 

quarts per day, at 2d. per quart, 13 5 

Cost of 9 stones inferior hay (at 4d. per stone), per 

week, 3s. Od. 

Cost of 63 lbs. ground oats, 4s. Sd. ; turnips, Is. 6d., 6 2 9 2 

Profit, 4 3 

My cow, average yield for 9 weeks, 14 quarts per day, at s. d. 

2d. per quart, 16 4 

Gain of flesh, 6\ lbs per week, at 6d., 3 1| 

19 5* 
Cost of food : 
Hay, 63 lbs. , at Qd. per stone ; straw and shells s. d. 

of oats, Is. 'Sd. ; mangel, Is., 4 6i 

Rape-cake, 35 lbs. ; bran, 104 lbs. ; malt-combs, 

10^ lbs. ; bean-meal, 104 lbs., 4 Oj 8 7 

Profit, 10 ioa 



QUALITY OP THE MANURE, 



395 



The richer quality of the manure will probably com- 
pensate for the extra labor, cooking, and attention 
bestowed upon my cow. 

With a view of extending the comparison, I give par- 
ticulars of the whole of my cows the weights of which 
were registered on the 8th of October, and which were 
still on hand, free from calf, and in a state admitting of 
comparison. These were bought at a neighboring 
market in but moderate condition, and were young, 
having had two or three calves each. A cow in full con- 
dition attains her maximum yield in a week or so after 
calving ; whilst those in lower condition continue, by 
my treatment, to increase their quantity up to about a 
month after calving. 

TABLE. 



1. 

2. 
4.' 
6. 
7. 
11. 

Average, 



Calved. 



July 28 
Aug. 25 
July 28 
Sept. 8 
Sept. 8 
Aug. 25 



Greatest 

yield per 

day. 


October 8. 
Weight. 


February 4. 




Weight. 


Yield 

per 
day. 


Quarts. 

12 


Cwt. qrs. lbs. 

9 2 


Cwt. qrs. lbs. 

10 


Qts. 
8 


18 


10 


11 1 


14 


18 


8 2 


10 1 


15 


16 


10 2 


10 2 


14 


16 


10 2 


11 


10 


16 


9 1 


9 2 


11 


' 16 






12 







TABLE — 


•CONTINUED. 








March 4. 


Computed average 


Gain, 
Oct. 8 to 


Gain 










HI 


No. 




Weight. 


Yield per 
day. 


per day during 


Feb. 4. 


per 
week. 




Cwt. 


qrs. lbs. 


Quarts. 


Weeks. Qts. 


Lbs. 


Lbs. 


1. 


10 


1 


8 


29 — 10 


84 


4 


2. 


11 


1 


14 


27 — 16 


140 


6| 


4. 


10 





15 


31 — 15 


168 


8 


6. 


10 


3 


14 


25 — 15 


28 


1* 


7. 


11 





10 


25 — 13 


56 


2§ 


11. 


9 


2 


11 


27 — 134 
27* -14 


28 


IS 


Average, 




12 













396 APPENDIX. — horsfall's system. 

My cows, during the period under consideration, 
were treated as follows : During August and Septem- 
ber they were on open pasture by day and housed by 
night; evening and morning they were supplied with 
mown grass, and two feeds of steamed mixture. 
Towards the close of September green rape was sub- 
stituted for the mown grass, with the same allowance 
of steamed mixture ; from the 8th of October, when 
they were wholly housed, they were supplied with 
steamed food ad libitum three times per clay. After 
each meal ten to twelve pounds of green rape-plant 
were given, and nine pounds of hay per day till No- 
vember ; from that time steamed food with cabbages or 
kohl rabi till the early part of February, when mangold 
wurzel was substituted. It will be observed that I 
give hay and roots in limited quantities, and the steamed 
food ad libitum. I prefer this to apportioning the cake 
and other concentrated food in equal quantities to each, 
as this steamed mixture contains more of the elements 
essential to milk, and each cow is thus at liberty to 
satisfy her requirements with it. Nos. 2 and 4, which 
have given the greatest quantit}^ of milk, have eaten 
more than their share ; whilst No. 1, which has given 
the least milk, has scarcely eaten more than half the 
quantity of steamed mixture consumed by 2 or 4. 
The yield of milk and the live weights on the 4th of 
February and the 4th of March scarcely vary. During 
February thirty-four pounds of mangold were substituted 
for kohl rabi ; with this change the cows became more 
relaxed. My experience in weighing, extending over 
several years, has shown me that when animals, from 
change of food, become more relaxed or more costive, 
their weighings in the former state denote less, whilst 
in the latter they denote more, than their actual gain in 
condition. I have known instances in which a month's 
weighing, accompanied by relaxation, has shown no 
gain, whilst, with restored consistency, the gain doubled. 

I now proceed to examine the materials of food, 
their composition, and the probable changes they 
undergo in the animal economy. 



FOOD AND ITS COMPOSITION. 



397 



Quantity and description of food supplied to six cows during twenty- 
seven and a third weeks, and its composition in proximate elements 
and minerals. 





Per day. 


Total weight of 
food given. 


Cost per ton. 


Total cost. 


Weight of food 
when dried. 




lbs. 


lbs. 


£ 


s. d. 


' £ s. 


d. 


lbs. 


Meadow hay, 


56 


10,715 


4 





19 2 


9 


9,420 


Rape-cake, . 


30 


5,740 


6 


10 


16 12 


i 


5,456 


Malt-combs, 


9 


1,722 


5 


9 


4 3 





1,660 


Bran, . . . 


9 


1,722 


6 


10 


5 





1,500 


Beans, . . . 


9 


1,722 


9 


6 8 


7 3 


6 


1,500 


Green food, 


204 


39,032 





10 


8 14 


6 


5,740 


Oat-straw, . 


50 


9,566 


1 


15 


7 9 





8,407 


Bean-straw, 


12 


2,296 


1 


15 


7 16 





1,964 


Total, . . 


379 


72,515 




70 


9 


35,647 





Albumen. 


Starch. 


Oil. 


Fibre. 


Minerals. 




lbs. 


lbs. 


lbs. 


lbs. 


■ lbs. 


Meadow hay, 


990 


4,257 


287 


2,933 


953 


Rape-cake, 


1,803 


2,177 


611 


494 


171 


Malt-combs, 


411 


791 


51 


320 


88 


Bran, . . . 


246 


800 


96 


258 


100 


Beans, . . . 


464 


774 


34 


176 


53 


Green food, 


862 


3,074 


115 


1,148 


541 


Oat-straw, . 


287 


3,066 


100 


4,526 


428 


Bean-straAV, 


376 


725 


51 


594 


217 


Total, . . 


5,439 

= Nitrogen 
888 lbs. 


15,664 


1,345 


10,449 


2,551 



ANALYSIS OF MILK BY HAIDLEN. 

Water, 873. 

Butter, 30. 

Caseine, 48.2 

Milk sugar, 43.9 

Phosjihate of lime, 2.31 

Magnesia, .42 

Iron, 07 

Chloride of potassium, 1.44 

Sodium and Soda, .66 



1000.00 



34 



398 APPENDIX. — horsfall's system. 

Production of milk by 6 cows, average 14 quarts per 
day each, for 27| weeks = 16,072 quarts, which at 41 
oz. per quart = 41,184 lbs. 

lbs. 

When dry or free from moisture, 5230 

Butter in 16,072 quarts, at 30 per 1000 = 1235 

Caseinein " " " 48.2 per 1000, =1977 

Sugar of milk, = 1804 

AT . ■, (Phosphate of lime, 99 ~) 01 , 

Mmerals -|0ther, 115 | = 2U 

5230 
Gain of weight 500 lbs., of which I compute 300 lbs. as fat. 

200 lbs. as flesh. 

500 

Nitrogen, 316 lbs. 

Phosphate of lime, 99 

Phosphoric acid, = 45.50 

Cost of food per cow per week, . 8s. 6'^d. 
When the yield of milk is less, the cost of food is reduced to 7s. 8d. 
per week. 

s. d. 

Gross return in milk, 16 4 

" " " weight, 16 

" " " manure, 2 8 

20 6 

ANALYSIS OF EXCREMENT BY PROFESSOR WAY. 

Per cent. 

Moisture, 84.85 

Phosphoric acid, .39 

Potash, 58 

Soda, • 22 

Other substances, 13.96 

100. 

Nitrogen, 41 

Ammonia, 49 

Manure, 88 lbs. per cow per day. 

For 6 cows per day 528 lbs. = 3696 lbs. per week. 
" " " for 27£ weeks 101,028 lbs., containing of 

Nitrogen, 414 lbs. 

Phosphoric acid, 393 

Potash, 585 



ANALYSES OP INGREDIENTS. 399 

Nitrogen incorporated in food, 888 lbs. 

Caseine, 316. 

Fibrin, 7.35 

Manure, 414. 

Balance consumed in perspiration, .... 150.65 

888.00 
The materials of food are shown to have cost . . £70 0s. 9d. 

£. s. d. 
Gross value 16,072 quarts of milk, at 2d. per quart, . 133 18 8 
Gain of weight 500 lbs., at Qd. per lb., 12 10 

Nitrogen in manure 414 lbs. = Ammonia £. s. d. 

494 lbs., at Qd., 12 7 

Phosphoric acid 393 lbs., at l^d. per lb., . 2 9 1 
Potash 585 lbs., at 3d. per lb., .... 763 

22 2 4 



£168 11 



Manure per cow per day 88 lbs., per week 616 lbs. s. d. 

Containing ammonia 3 lbs., ... 1 6 

Phosphoric acid 2.40 lbs 34 

Potash 3.57 lbs., 10£ 



Value of a cow's excrement, per week, .... 2 8 

The analyses of the chief ingredients of my own 
produce, or such extra materials as I usually purchase, 
have been made by Professor Way ; for other materials 
I have had recourse to a very useful compilation by Mr. 
Hemming (vol. xiii., p. 449, of the Society's Journal), 
and to Morton's " Cyclopaedia of Agriculture." The 
analysis of straw is that of oat-straw ; that of green food 
is derived from the analysis of rape-plant, cabbages, and 
kohl rabi. During February and March I have been 
using wheat and barley straw with mangold, and, as these 
materials contain less oil, I give in the steamed food 
three ounces of linseed-oil per day to each animal. For 
the composition of milk I adopt that by Haidlen, whose 
method of analysis is reputed to be the most accurate, 
the proportion of butter in my milk being this season 
very similar to that given by him. 

It will be observed that this is the gross return for 
twenty-seven and one third weeks from the time of 



400 APPENDIX. HOKSFALL'S SYSTEM. 

calving, from which will have to be deducted expense 
of attendance, etc. 

£. s. d. 
The materials used for food are found to have cost . . 70 9 

The value of these materials as manure consists of 888 

lbs. nitrogen = 1061 lbs. ammonia, at 6d., ... 26 10 6 
Phosphoric acid and potash, 915 4 



Value of food if employed as manure, . . .£36 5 10 

The 16,072 quarts of milk, at 2d. per quart for new 
milk, at which price it enters largely into con- 
sumption as food for man, amount to £133 18 8 

The nitrogen in the milk 316 lbs. = ammonia £. s. d. 

378 lbs., at 6rf. per lb., 9 9 

Phosphoric acid in ditto. 45£ lbs. , at l^d. per lb. , 5 8 

£9 14 8 

From these statements it will be seen that materials 
used as food for cattle represent double the value they 
would do if used for manure, whilst that portion con- 
verted into food fitted for the use of man represents a 
value thirteen to fourteen times greater than it would 
as manure. 

It then appears clear that it is for the feeder's profit 
to use his produce as much as possible as food for 
cattle, with the view to convert it with the utmost 
economy into food for man, and thus increase rather 
than enrich his manure-heap. 

The calculation of caseine in milk is based upon the 
supposition that my milk is equal in its proportion of 
that element to that analyzed by Haidlen. Several 
analyses by other chemists show a less percentage, 4 to 
4.50. As my cows are adequately supplied with 
albuminous matter, I have a right to presume on their 
milk being rich in caseine. 

The loss of nitrogen by perspiration, 150.65 lbs., is 
nearly 17 per cent. Boussingault found a loss of 13.50 
of nitrogen in a cow giving milk. 

The abstraction of nitrogen in the milk is computed at £. s. d. 

316 lbs., value, 990 

The abstraction of phosphoric acid in the milk is com- 
puted at 48^ lbs. , 058 



COMPOSITION OF MANURE. 



401 



Either the rape-cake or bran alone suffices for the 
restoration of the phosphoric acid. 

The amount of phosphoric acid in the manure is 393 
pounds, being about sixteen per cent, of the whole ash 
or mineral matter. The ash of meadow hay contains 
about 14 per cent., that of rape-cake 30 per cent., bran 
50 per cent., malt-combs 25 per cent., and turnips, &c, 
10 per cent, of phosphoric acid. 

The amount of potash in the excrement is 616 
pounds, being about 25 per cent, of the whole ash or 
mineral matter. The ash of meadow hay contains about 
20 per cent. ; rape-cake, 21 per cent. ; malt-combs, 37 
per cent. ; turnips (various), 44 per cent. ; from which 
it may be inferred that the sample of excrement sent to 
Professor Way for analysis did not contain more than a 
fair proportion of these ingredients. 

To ascertain the quantity of excrement, the contents 
of the tanks into which the cows had dropped their 
solid and liquid excrement during five weeks were 
weighed, and found to be 500 cwt. 2 qrs. lbs., from 
18 cows, being 88 lbs. per cow per day. The sample 
for analysis was taken from that which the cows had 
deposited within the preceding 24 hours. This was 
collected in the mud-cart, well blended, and sent off 
quite fresh. 

It is sufficiently proved, by the experience of this 
district, that 20 pounds of meadow hay suffice for the 
maintenance of a cow of fair size in store condition ; a 
like result is stated to be obtained from 120 pounds of 
turnips per day. The six cows will have then required, 
during the 27| weeks, for their maintenance, only 



lbs. 
120 
150 



Per day. 


Weeks. 


Total 
Weight. 


of hay or for 

of turnips, or for 


271 
27^ 


lbs. 

22,9G0 

137,700 



containing of 



Albumi- 
nous mat. 


Oil. 

GIG 
306 


2127 

2295 



Starcli, 
&c. 



9130 
9100 



They will further have required adequate food 
34* 26 



402 



APPENDIX. — HORSFALL'S SYSTEM. 





Albuminous 

matter, fibrin, 

and caseine. 


Oil and but- 
ter. 


Starch and 

sugar of 

milk. 


And for maintenance by turnips, . . 


2,110 

2,295 


1,235 
306 


1,894 
9,100 


The food supplied is computed do 
have contained 


4,411 
5,459 


1,541 
1,345 


10,994 
15,664 



I omit tlie minerals, which are observed to be in 
excess of the requirements. 

For the maintenance of a fair-sized cow, for one day, 
in a normal state, the following elements seem ade- 
quate : 



In 20 lbs. of hay, . 
In 120 " " turnips, 



1.85 
1.98 



Oil. 



.536 
.26 



Starch, &c. 



7.95 

7.82 



.90 

.97 




When cows are in milk, there occurs a much greater 
activity of the functions ; they eat and drink more, 
evacuate more excrement, and, in all probability, spend 
considerably more food in respiration. Whilst the 
17.60 lbs. per day dry matter in 20 lbs. of hay are found 
adequate for the maintenance of a cow in a store state, 
the six cows in milk have eaten on the average 21.37 
lbs. solid matter per day during the 27§ weeks. When 
1 have fattened cattle together with a number of milch 
cows of similar size, which gave on an average eight 
quarts of milk per day, the whole being fed with moist 
steamed food, and receiving the same allowance of 
green food, I have found the fattening cattle refuse 
water, whilst the milch cows on the average drank 
upwards of 40 pounds per day of water given sepa- 
rately. The eight quarts of milk contain only about 
17.58 lbs. of water ; still, in several analyses of excrement, 
I have noticed little difference in the percentage of 
moisture in that from the fattening animals as compared 
with that from cows giving milk. 



ELEMENTS EEQUIRED TO FORM BUTTER. 403 

These facts would seem to show that upwards of 20 
lbs. more water were given off from the lungs and pores 
of the skin of a milking than of a fattening animal. 

The excrement of the six milch cows, 88 lbs. per day 
on the average, is found to contain of nitrogen .36, 
equal to that in 2.25 lbs. of albumen; whilst 1.85 of 
albumen in the 20 lbs. of hay is found adequate for 
maintenance. 

On comparing the supply of the food to the six milcli 
cows with their requirements and production, there 
seems an excess in the albuminous matter, a deficiency 
in the oil for the fat and butter, an excess in the starch, 
&c. Taking, however, the increased activity of the 
animal functions, and consequent consumption of food 
by the milch cow, I am not encouraged to lower my 
standard of food. That it has sufficed is abundantly 
proved, as each of the six cows under observation has 
gained in condition during 27g weeks. 

My observations on nutrition tend to the conclusion 
that if you supply animals with starch, sugar, &c, to 
satisfy their requirements for respiration, you enable 
them to convert the oil of their food into butter or fat 
to such extent as their particular organism is fitted for 
effecting it. 

On the 12th of March I purchased Mr. Smith's cow 
(see p. 392) for twelve pounds ten shillings, being more 
than her market value, for the purpose of trying her on 
my food ; her yield of milk had then diminished to 8 
quarts per day. On the 31st of March, four weeks from 
the former weighing, and nineteen days after being 
treated with my food, her yield of milk had increased to 
9| quarts per day, and her weight to 8 cwt. 1 qi\, being 
28 lbs. increase. 

Mr. Pawson's cow, which was continued on the same 
food, namely, meadow hay ad libitum, and a more 
limited supply of turnips, reduced her yield of milk to 
less than 5 quarts per day, without alteration in her 
weight. 

My cow first placed on trial with those of Mr. Smith 
and Mr. Pawson gave a yield of milk of 12 quarts per 



404 



APPENDIX. HORSFALL'S SYSTEM. 



day, and gained 28 lbs. in the four weeks, her weight 
on the 31st of March being 10 cwt. 2 qrs. 

The weight and the yield of milk of the six, on the 
31st of March, were: 





March 4. 


Yield of 

milk 
per day. 

quarts. 

8 


March 31. 
cwt. qr. lbs. 

10 3 


Yield of 

milk 
per day. 

quarts. 

8.9 


Gtain in 
4 weeks. 


Weight of No. 1. 


cwt. qr. lbs. 

10 26 


lbs. 
58 


" " " 2. 


11 1 


14 


11 3 


14.9 


5G 


n a a 4. 


10 


m 


10 1 


13 


23 


'• " " G. 


10 3 


14 


11 2 


12 


84 


" " 7. 


11 


10 


11 3 


10 


84 


" " " 11. 


9 2 


11 


10 1 


12 


84 



On referring to the previous weighing, there was 
little or no gain from Feb. 4th to March 4th, the cows 
being at that time in a somewhat more relaxed state. 
During March they wholly regained their consistency. 
The gain shown in the weighing, March 31, by the six 
cows, appears therefore unusually great. It should, 
however, be computed as made during the eight weeks 
from Feb. 4th to March 31, being with an average yield 
of nearly 12 quarts (11.66) per clay each, at the rate 
of 8| lbs. each per Aveek on the average. 

No. 11, it will be observed, is stated as giving more 
milk on the 31st than on the 4th of March. It 
occasionally happens that cows drop their yield of milk 
for a day or two, and then regain it, especially when in 
use. The whole of these six cows were kept free from 
calf till February, when Nos. 2 and 4 were sent to bull. 
I had some hesitation in regard to No. 4, from her hav- 
ing suffered from pleuro. Her milk, tested by a lac- 
tometer, denoted a less than average proportion of 
cream ; still, in quantity, and keeping up its yield for a 
length of time, being of more than ordinary capability, 
I decided to retain her. 

Nos. 1 and 7, which are giving respectively 8 and 10 
quarts per day, are in a state of fatness ; they will 
probably be sold in June as prime fat, when their yield 
of milk will probably be 6 and 8 quarts per day each. 



PROPORTION OF CREAM. 405 

They may be expected to fetch twenty pounds to 
twenty-three pounds. No. 6 is also in a state of for- 
wardness. No. 11, which suffered considerably from 
pleuro, is in comparatively lower condition. 

During- the season from the close of October to the 
close of January, I avoid purchasing near-calving cows, 
which are then unusually dear, my replenishments being- 
made with cows giving a low range of milk, and 
intended for fattening. I find them more profitable 
than those which are quite dry. The present season I 
had additional grounds for abstaining from buying high- 
priced cows, from the recent presence of pleuro. 

On the 2d of March I had occasion to purchase a 
calving cow, which was reported to have calved on the 
28th of February. Her weight on the 4th of March was 
9 cwt. 1 qr. I supplied her with 35 lbs. of mangold, and 
hay ad libitum, of which she ate 22 lbs. per day. The 
greatest yield she attained was somewhat more than 13 
quarts per day. On the 31st of March her weight was 
9 cwt., being a loss of 28 lbs. in four weeks. Her 
yield of milk had diminished to 11 J quarts per clay. A 
week after this her milk, during six days, was kept 
apart, and averaged 10 quarts per day ; being at first 
rather more, at the close rather less, than this. The 
cream produced from these 60 quarts was 9 pints, the 
butter 63 oz. The butter from each quart of cream 
was 14 oz. The proportion of butter to milk was 63 
oz. from 60 quarts — rather more than 1 oz. per quart. 

An equal quantity of milk from a cow (calved Oct. 
8th) treated with steamed food, and set apart for com- 
parison, gave less than 7 pints of cream, which pro- 
duced 79 oz. of butter. 

In quality and agreeableness the butter from steamed 
food and cake was decidedly superior to that from hay 
and mangold. 

Mr. Stansfeld, of Chertsey, has supplied me with the 
following interesting particulars of two Alderney cows 
which were treated as follows : 

From Dec. 1st to Jan 15th, with Swedes and meadow 
hay. 



406 



APPENDIX. — HOKSFALL'S SYSTEM. 



From Jan. 15th to Feb. 17th, pulped and fermented 
Swedes, meadow hay, and 3 lbs. rape-cake, 2 lbs. bean- 
meal, 2 lbs. bran, 2 lbs. malt-combs. 

From Feb. 17th to May 1st, 5 lbs. rape-cake, 2 lbs. 
bran, 2 lbs. malt-combs. 

Results : 

December 1st to January 15th, yield of butter from 
each quart of cream, 10| oz. 

January 15th to February 17th, yield of butter from 
each quart of cream, 14 oz. 

February 17th to May 1st, yield of butter from each 
quart of cream, 18| oz. 

The yield of butter in proportion to milk, Dec. 1st to 
Jan. 15th, is described as unsatisfactory. 

The yield of butter in proportion to milk, Feb. 17th 
to May, as 2 oz. per quart, which is their maximum pro- 
portion. 

Soon after calving the two cows gave 18 quarts of 
milk per day; on the 15th of May, 15 quarts per day. 

Mr. Stansfeld has completely satisfied himself that 
by the process of fermentation the turnip loses its 
disagreeable taste, and that his butter is of excellent 
quality. 

If I take the supply of turnips, 120 lbs. per day, as 
requisite for the maintenance only of the cow, the 
nutritive elements will be : 



Albumen. 

1.79 



on. 
.264 



Starch and sugar. 

7.92 



Reckoning the oil as used for respiration, and computing it 

in proportion of 5 to 2 as compared with starch = . .66 



8.58 



The food supplied to the cow consists of: 





Lbs. 


Water. 


Dry. 


Albu- 
men. 


I Starch 
Oil. and 

| sugar. 


Fibre. 


Mine- 
rals. 


Phos- 
phoric 
acid. 


Hay, . . . 

Stored mangold, 


22 
35 


2i 
28.0 


19.36 

7. 


2.03 
1.05 


.59 


8.74 
4.20 


6.05 
1.05 


1.95 
.70 


.30 
.05 








26.36 


3.08 


.59 


12.94 


7.10 


2.65 


.35 



OIL OP THE BUTTER. 407 



The 13 quarts of niilk yielded of butter, .... 13.60 
Deduct for moisture, &c, 2.28 

11.32 

Butter in the skimmed milk estimated as ... . .68 

12.00 oz. 
12 ounces of pure oil in the butter are | lb. = . . .75 

lb. 

The oil in the food, 59 

The starch and sugar, 12.94 

Used for animal respiration, 8.58 

4.36 

There appears, then, in this supply of food, .59 lbs. oil 
and 4.36 lbs. starch for the production of .75 in the 
butter from 13 quarts per day, the cow's greatest yield. 
At the time the milk was tested, aftermath hay was sub- 
stituted for first-crop hay, in equal quantity. This, it 
will be observed, is decidedly richer in oil. Her prod- 
uce had lessened to 10 quarts per day ; her production 
of butter was 10.50 oz. per day, or of pure oil about 9 
oz. ; for the supply of oil the aftermath hay alone would 
be much more than adequate. 

On examining the adequacy of the food for the sup- 
ply of albumen for the caseine, 

lbs. 

I find this to be, 3.08 

I assume that in 120 lbs. of turnips, as required for 

maintenance, in a normal state, 1.98 

1.10 

Which, according to Haidlen's analysis, will be adequate 
to the supply of 8.60 quarts per day. The supply of 
mineral substances is in excess. 

The cow, under this treatment, gave, 

Soon after calving, fully 1 3 quarts per day. 

Five -weeks after calving, 11^ " " " 

In less than 8 weeks after calving, . . 9 " " " 

And with this there occurred also a loss of weight. 
We find this cow supplied with food amply rich in 



408 APPENDIX. — horspall's system. 

every element suited to her wants and purposes, with 
the exception of the nitrogenous principle only, lower- 
ing her condition, and likewise her yield of milk, till it 
approaches a quantity for which her food enables her 
to supply a due proportion of caseine. 

About the 20th of April, the cow's yield being re- 
duced to 9 quarts per day, her food was changed to 
steamed mixture. Soon after this her yield increased 
to 11 quarts .per day. Her weight, April 28th, 9 cwt. ; 
May 16th, 9 cwt. 14 lbs.: yield of milk, 11 quarts. 

I now introduce the dairy statistics of Mr. Alcock, of 
Aireville, Skipton, who has for some time been prac- 
tising my method of treatment, with such modifications 
as are suited to his circumstances. 

During the winter season, Mr. Alcock's food consisted 
of mangold, of which he gave 20 lbs. per clay to each, 
uncooked, together with steamed food ad libitum, con- 
sisting of wheat and bean straw, and shells of oats. 

Carobbean and Indian meal, for each, . . 3 lbs. per day. 

Bran and malt-combs, 1 " " " 

Bean-meal, 3£ " " " 

Rape-cake,* 3 " " " 

Of extra food, 11| 

From March 19, when his store of mangold was ex- 
hausted, he increased his supply of Indian meal to 4 
lbs. per day, and omitted the carob bean. 

During the month of January, Mr. Alcock obtained 
from 759 quarts of milk 1323 oz. of butter, being from 
each 16 quarts 26| oz. ; during February and March, 
from 7368 quarts of milk 12,453 oz. of butter, or from 
each 16 quarts fully 27 oz. : so that rather less than 
9| quarts of milk have produced 16 oz. of butter. 
The average produce from each quart of cream was 
20| oz. 

Mr. Alcock fattens his cows whilst giving milk, and 
sells them whilst giving 4 to 6 quarts per day. He 

* The rape-cake used by Mr. Alcock was of foreign manufacture, evi- 
dently rich in oil, but containing mustard, and on this account supplied in 
less proportion. 



QUALITY OP THE BUTTER. 409 

quite agrees with me that it is far more profitable to 
buy far-milked cows for fattening ; and obtains, from a 
change to his food, 2 to 3 quarts per day more than the 
cow had given previously. 

Though Mr. Alcock's cream is not so rich as what I 
have described on pp. 377 and 378, it is more than 
ordinarily so. His mode of separating his milk from 
his cream differs from my own, his milk being set up in 
leaden vessels, from which, on the cream being formed, 
the old milk is drawn, by taking a plug from a hollow 
tube, with perforated holes in the centre of the vessel. 
To this difference I am disposed in some degree to 
attribute the less richness of Mr. Alcock's cream. On 
examining the cream with a spoon, after the dairy- 
keeper had drawn off the milk, I observed some portion 
of milk, which would have escaped through my per- 
forated skimmer. 

Mr. Alcock's proportion of butter from milk, which is 
the matter of practical importance, is greater than what 
I have shown on a preceding page, being from each 16 
quarts of milk 27 oz. of butter. 

Quality of Butter. — In January, 1857, samples of 
about 56 oz. each, of butter of my own, and also of 
Mr. Alcock's, were sent to the laboratory of Messrs. 
Price & Co.'s candle-works, at Belmont. 

My butter was found to consist of (taking the pure 
fat only), 

Hard fat, mostly margarine, fusible at 950°, . . . 45.9 
Liquid, or oleine, 54.1 

100.0 
Mr. Alcock's, 

Hard fat, mostly margarine, fusible at 10°, . . . 36.0 
Liquid, or oleine, 04.0 

100.0 

For these analyses of butter the agricultural pub I it- 
is indebted to the good offices of Mr. George Wilson, 
director of Messrs. Price <fc Co.'s manufactory. It will 
be observed that Mr. Alcock's milk is richer in butter, 
35 



410 APPENDIX. — HORSFALL'S SYSTEM. 

and that his butter is also richer in proportion of oleine 
to margarine than my own. 

Professor Thompson ("Elements of Agricultural Chem- 
istry," 6th edition, p. 317) states that winter butter 
consists more of solid, and summer more of liquid or 
oleine fat. 

An analysis of butter made in Vosges gives : 

Summer. Winter. 

Solid or margarine fat, 40 65 

Liquid (or oleine) fat, 60 35 

100 100 

In Lehmann's " Physiological Chemistry " (Leipsic 
edition, vol. ii., p. 329), an analysis of butter by Bromus 
gives : 

Margarine, 68 

Oleine, 30 

Special butter-oil, 2 

100 

It will be observed that my butter may be classed as 
summer butter, and that Mr. Alcock's is the richest in 
the proportion of oleine. Both were produced in the 
month of January. 

These results are important, and completely establish 
the conclusion I had previously formed, that the quan- 
tity and quality of butter depend essentially on the 
food and treatment; and that by suitable means you 
can produce as much and as rich butter in winter as in 
summer. 



INDEX. 



Alton's opinion of dairy stock, 13, 14, 19 

Albuminous substances, value of as food, 122-128 

American cattle, origin of, 50, 51, 58, 54, 55, 60 

American cheese, 260 

Analysis of milk, 216, 397 

•' butter, 239, 379, 409 

" cheese, 268, 269 

" hay and grasses, 390, 879 

" cotton-seed cake, 127, 128, 197 

and value of manure, 198,398,401 

Animals, large and small, 10, 111 

Annatto for coloring, 250, 251, 328 

Artificial shades in pastures, 135 

Ayrshires, as dairy cows, 11,17,19,22,25,75,77 

origin and points of, 11, 12, 14, 16, 22, 23, 25 

yield of, 18, 19, 20, 25 

Barn, plan of a, 150, 151, 153 

" cellar, convenience of, 154 

" temperature of for cows, 154 

Bean-vines, value of, 139, 870, 371 

Beauty of stock, 28, 86, 41, 72, 73, 104 

Berkshire swine, crosses of the, 362, 363 

Boussingault's equivalents, 125, 126 

Breed, meaning of the term, 49 

Breed, an element in judging dairy cows, 91,92 

Breeds, some must be kept pure, 861 

Bull, selection of' for breeding, 62,63,66,75,77 

Butter, origin of, 217 

not made by the early Jews, 217 

from cream first skimmed the best, 218 

making of, .... 220, 221, 228, 229, 230, 232, 302, 809, 320 
modes of churning, .... 225, 226, 228, 232, 309, 311, 318 

salting of, 238, 321, 386 

composition of, 121, 239, 379 

producing localities, 892 

quantity of milk to make a pound of, 382 

qualities of, 239,391,409 

worker, 226, 231, 235, 236 

from poor and rich pastures, 391 

use of the sponge to remove butter-milk, 231,234 

fat or oil of, . . 239, 240 



412 INDEX. 

Butter, in winter, 233, 385, 410 

in lumps, 238,323,327 

time of churning, 229, 236, 319, 386 

" cleansing the casks for, 324,325 

" mode of packing, . . . 237, 238, 323, 326 

" coloring of, 328, 359 

" made by burying cream, 239 

Butter-milk, use of, 329, 345, 361 

" proportions of, 379 

Buying dairy stock, Ill 

Calves, raising of, 155,156,157,160,162,165,167 

" value of Guenon's method of judging, 102, 110, 155 

" feeding of by hand, 157,159,160,163 

" diseases of, 290, 291, 292 

" must: have the first milk, 157, 159, 290 

" immediately taken from the cow, 158, 159 

" starving and over-feeding, 161, 167, 168 

" feeding hay-tea to, ... 165 

" food required, 167, 168 

Calving, treatment of the cow at, 13,130,131,275 

Cattle, importance of weighing, 387,396 

" fattening of, 388 

Cheddar cheese, mode of making, 261 

" " analysis of, 269 

Cheese, early history of, 241 

" composition of, 121, 122, 268, 269 

" made of cream, 242 

" " " skim-milk, 243, 266, 331 

" making of, 243,245,247,252,360 

" breaking the curd, 245, 247, 253, 350 

" new and sweet milks, 246, 339, 345, 348 

" pressing of. . . 247, 251, 252, 254, 264, 268, 270, 334, 336, 342 

" salting, 254,258,261,338,342 

" varieties of, 254,255,330,348 

" coloring of, 250, 353 

" Cheshire, how made 256, 257, 258 

" Stilton, " « 259 

Gloucester," " 260,269 

" Cheddar, " << 261, 269 

" as a digester, 269, 270 

" Dutch, making of, 330, 331, 339, 345, 346 

" Gouda, " " 830,331,339,344 

" Edamer, " " 849 

" moulds, 335, 837, 342, 351 

Cheshire cheese, mode of making, 256,257,258 

Choking, cure for, 288, 284 

Churn, forms of the, 226,227,228,310,312,315 

Churning, 225, 228, 232, 236, 309, 383, 385 

" temperature for, 383, 385 

" by lever, 311, 313 

" by dog-power, 317 

" by horse-power, 225, 318 

Cleanliness the first requisite, .... 146, 221, 255, 300, 324, 330, 367 



INDEX. 413 

Climate and its effect on stock, 16, 37 

Clover, value of for milch cows, 188, 184, 187 

Constitution, indications of, 86, 104 

Cool-bath, use of the, 303,30-1 

Costiveness in calves, treatment of, 291,292 

Cotton-seed meal, analysis and use of, 127, 128, 197 

Cows, in the natural or wild state, y, G8, 13G 

" " calf, treatment of, 130,131 

" classification of, 102, 106, 108, 109 

Cream, treatment of, 286, 378, 385 

" difference in quality, 377, 880 

Cream-pots, 34, 298, 308 

Crosses and their results, 23, 54, 55, 58, 62, 63, 74, 77 

Dairy cows, management of, . . 113,116,117,119,123,140,367,392 

" " too many for the food, 118, 116 

" regularity of feeding, 117, 119, 120, 133, 137 

" room, 233,237,383,884,386 

" utensils, treatment of, 296, 297, 299, 322, 347 

Dairy-fed pork, excellence of, 361 

Dairyman's motto, 117, 120 

Dairy-woman, letter to a, 855 

Denmark cattle, 53 

Diarrhoea, cause and treatment of, 287, 291 

Digestive organs, 22, 86, 109, 130, 277 

Diseases of dairy stock, 271,279,286,290 

Dunlop cheese, 261,262,264 

" " analysis of, 269 

Dutch cattle, . . .' 14, 15, 32, 87, 52, 104, 107 

Dysentery, symptoms and treatment of, 288 

Early maturity, importance of, 23, 36, 862, 364 

Elements of food, . . 116,120,122,125,138,397 

Escutcheon, form of the, 24, 65, 66, 69, 91, 93, 95, 97, 99, 101, 103, 105 

" transmission of the, 65, 66, 67,' 68, 70 

of calves, 102,110,155 

Exceptional and characteristic qualities, 9, 59, 68 

External signs of milkers, 80,87,88,89,110 

False presentations in calving, 274, 275 

Fat of animals, how formed, 120,121,127,874 

" forming elements, 120, 122, 128, 381 

Feeding, course of, . . 118, 123, 124, 127, 129, 131, 133, 138, 140, 168 

Food and shelter, 10,56,113,116,117,119,136,168 

" to produce quantity, 117,122,127,136,139,387 

" adapted to the animal, 381,396 

' ' economy of, 4( >0 

" bulk of, 144, 38] 

" variety of required, 121, 143, 144 

" steaming the, 387, 396 

Foul in the foot, treatment of, 28 I 

Garget, symptoms and treatment, 271,272 

Gentleness in the care of stock, 147,148,104 

35* 



414 INDEX. 

Gloucester cheese, mode of making, 260, 261 

" " analysis of, 269 

Grade and native cattle, 49, 54, 55, 60, 74 

Grasses, culture of the, 169,170,172,176,180 

varieties of pasture, 169,170,184,185 

•' cutting and curing of, 186, 187 

Grass-fed cows, 123, 124, 133, 137 

Great milkers, form of, 28, 72, 104 

Guenon's method of judging cows, 24,64,90,91,92,109 

" " explanation of, • . . 65, 91 

Hafting and its results, 2] 

Harley's experience, 20, 137 

Hay cut and moistened, value of, 117,122,127 

Hereditary qualities, 24, 63 

Herefords, origin and characteristics of, 38, 40, 43 

Hornless cattle, 78 

Hoove, cause and cure of, 282, 283, 292 

Hoose, treatment of, 286 

Horsfall's system of feeding 138,365,370,380,383 

Hubback, fame of, 32, 33 

Hungarian cattle, 78 

Ice, use of in the dairy, 236,240,244 

Ice-creams, modes of making, . 214,215 

Inflammation of the glands, treatment of, 286 

" " " lungs, " " 286 

Indian corn, culture and curing for fodder, 188, 189 

Jersey cattle, m-igin and characteristics of, 26, 27, 29, 30 

" " Haxton's opinion of, 27 

" cows, milk of, 30, 76, 391 

Lactometer, use of, 149, 210, 211 

Letter to a dairy-woman, 355 

Lice on cows, how to get rid of, 289 

Linseed-meal, value and use of, 128, 197, 381 

London dairies, 35, 74, 136 

Loss of cud, cure for, 290 

Male, selection of the, 62,66,75,77,362 

Mange, synrptoms and cure of, 288 

Manures, economy and use of, 154, 198, 400, 401 

Medicine chest, importance of, 293, 2^4 

" easily procured, 293, 294 

Milch cows, yield of, IS, 20, 25, 116, 133, 301, 372 

" selection of, 10, 61, 64, 67, 71, 79, 80, 86 

" " teeth of, 81,83,85,86 

Milk, nature and composition of, 199, 200, 201, 203, 216, 369 

" oily parts of, 200,204,216,217,218,239,389 

" cheesy parts of, 200,204,216,241,369,380,400 

" temperature for raising cream, . . .200,201,205,212,228,233 

« curdling, 244, 245, 246, 253, 267 

" intoxicating liquor from, 201, 202 

" difference in quality, 203, 207, 209, 219, 875, 383 



INDEX. 415 



Milk, specific gravity of, 203, 209, 210 

" setting for cream, . . 205, 207, 222, 223, 225, 228, 232, 234, 308 

" effect of climate on the quantity, 207 

" treatment of, .... 207,208,212,219,221,223,295,302,308 

" adulterating, 208, 209 

" ice-creams from, 214 

" of spayed cows, 215 

" measures for, 216, 296 

" room, 221,222,231,383 

" testing the quality of, 149,209,211,376,397 

" feeding for, 56, 114, 115, 117, 123, 127, 129, 131, 132 

" greatest yield of on grass, 123, 124, 132, 137 

Milk-fever, symptoms and treatment of, 275, 276, 277, 278 

Milking, manner of affects the yield, 145, 146, 147 

" •women best adapted for, 149, 295 

" in the Dutch dairies, 295 

qualities, artificial, 9,68,136,148 

MLlk-mirror, transmission of the, 66, 67, 68, 70 

form of the, . 24, 65, 66, 67, 69, 90, 91, 93, 95, 97, 99, 101 

" explanation of the, 65 

Milk-pans, forms of, 223, 224, 296, 306 

Milk-yoke, use of the, 295,296 

Milk-veins, size of the, 88,104,106,110 

Millet, culture and value of, 189 

Mixed food, conducive to health, 121, 143 

Moist and succulent food, .... 117, 122, 127, 133, 136, 139, 144, 387 

Native or grade cattle, 14, 49, 50, 54, 56, 60, 61 

Nitrogenous substances, value of, 122, 128, 381 

North Devons, origin and qualities of, 44, 45, 47, 76 

Nutritive value of articles of food, 125,126 

Oakes cow, yield of, 72, 73 

Oil-cake, value of, 127, 129, 381 

Origin of breeds and races, 9 

Parmesan cheese, mode of making, 266,360 

Parturition, treatment at, 131, 273, 274 

Pastures, different qualities of, 391 

Patton stock, 35 

Philadelphia butter, quality of, 230, 234 

Points of a dairy cow, 21, 22, 47, 51, 64, 73, 80, 86, 88, 110 

Pork, best quality of, 362 

Practice in judging stock, 80 

Principles of breeding 23, 32, 58, 61, 62, 69, 71, 74 

Puerperal fever, treatment of, 275, 276 

Purgatives in use for cattle, 281 

Rape-cake, value of as food, 381,391 

Red water, treatment of, 285 

Regularity, importance of, 117,119,133,137,143 

Relative size of male and female, 16,(52,70,71,362 

Rennet, how prepared, 247, 248, 249, 259, 332, 349 

use of, 255, 257, 332 

Rings on the horns, 81 



416 INDEX. 

Roots for stock, 118,119,122,127,137,138,396 

" culture of, 191,192,193,196 

Rye, culture aud use of, 190 

Scours in calves, treatment of, 291 

Selection of cows, 10,61,71,79,80,86,110,111 

Shaving the milk-mirror, 95 

Short-horns, origin and characteristics of, 31, 33, 35 

" influence on American cattle, 34, 35, 74 

beef of the, . . 36, 42, 43 

Simple fever, symptoms and treatment, 279, 280 

Size of animals, relative, 10, 70, 111 

Skim-milk cheese, 243, 266, 331, 360 

Slinking the calf. . . 274 

Soiling, plants for, . 132, 135, 142, 143, 144 

" advantages of, 141, 142, 143 

Sponge and cloth, use of the, 231,232,234,358 

Spring, treatment of cows in, 131, 133, 137 

Square box the best churn, 228 

Stamping of butter, 323, 359 

Stilton cheese, mode of making, 259, 260 

Stock, improvement of, 57,58,60,63,71,168 

" selection of, 10,58,60,64,66,71,86 

" age of, 80, 81 

Suffolk swine, crosses with, 362, 363 

Surfeited cows, treatment of, 138, 290 

Swill-milk, how produced, 144, 208, 209, 216 

Swine, the kind of wanted, 362,363 

" treatment of, 364 

Symptomatic fever, treatment of, 280 

Teeth, indicative of aae, 81,83,85,86 

The piggery, . . ." 361,364 

Time a cow should run dry, 130, 131, 273 

" of calving, 131,272,273 

Treatment of dairy stock, 56, 130, 131, 133, 134, 136, 138, 140, 148, 168 
Typhoid fever, treatment of, 281 

Udder, attention to the, 43, 88, 89, 104, 108, 272 

" structure of the, 145, 146, 202 

Vegetable oils, 379, 389, 409 

Virginia, importation of cattle to, 35, 50 

Warbles, injure the hide, 290 

Warmth and ventilation requisite, 136, 149 

Whey, use of the, 344, 354 

Willowbank dairy, 20, 137 

Winter food for cows, 127,131,134,136,139 

Wood for butter casks and firkins, 324 

Yorkshire cattle, notice of, . . * 30, 32, 35, 74 

Youatt's opinion, 18, 47, 272, 277 




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